Mitakihara High School of the Dead
by ant0nym
Summary: Just like it sounds. Alternatively, an examination of the parallels between life of a Puella Magi and of someone caught up in the throes of a zombie apocalypse. T: For blood, gore, tragic turns of fate, death by dismemberment, acts of cannibalism, and romance. I own nothing, neither PMMM, Dawn of the Dead, Highschool of the Dead, or any other of the Dead.
1. Chapter 1

**Mitakihara High School of the Dead**

Chapter 1: Tame Compared to What Will Follow

* * *

><p>"Sayaka, you'll be late for school!"<p>

With a regretful glance in the mirror, the young blue-haired freshman pulled herself away from the mirror. "Coming, Mom!" Her bow was decidedly lopsided, and the wrinkles in her shirt had remained impervious to her attempts to try and smooth them out. Running fingers through her untidy, shoulder-length hair, Sayaka grabbed her favorite hairpin from it's place on her nightstand. Pulling back at her brilliant turquoise hair, she frowned at the sense of clinging dampness. _Overslept. Again._

"Sayaka!"

Rolling her eyes, the young woman strode over to her desk, sweeping the various books and papers and pens littering the table into her backpack. Yawning, she bent over to pick up a long, lumpy duffle bag, straightening with a grunt. Glancing at the shelf of trophies above her bed as she left, she couldn't help perking up a little, looking forward to afternoon practice.

"SAYA- oh, there you are. You're going to be late-"

"Yeah, I know, Mom. Thanks." Sayaka used that ironic tone of voice that drove her parents up the wall. _Always with the nagging, sheesh._ She grabbed a slice of bread, looking at the toaster hopefully before glancing at the digital display on the microwave. _Dammit_.

The television was on in the background. Pictures of helicopters, and a shot of a city, nothing that held her interest once she saw the footage was from Tokyo. "_-residents are being asked to remain calm, but avoid contact with others as much as poss_-" She got her news exclusively from the internet.

"You'd better hurry," her mother said meaningfully. Sayaka sighed, turning toward the door.

"-_virulent strain of flu. To repeat_-"

"I'll be home late. Practice." The last word was muffled as the blue-haired freshman walked out the door, stuffing half of the piece of bread in her mouth as she left. Grinning with her mouth full at the sight of her mother's expected look of disgust, she kicked the door shut behind her.

" _-the Emergency Disaster Countermeasure Office is requesting that all residents within the greater Tokyo area avoid-_"

* * *

><p>"No Mami-san today?"<p>

Madoka grinned at her friend's obvious disappointment. The pinkette had waited patiently for Sayaka at their usual spot by the park; the walk to the high school being in a different direction that they'd taken the previous year. She'd been just about to leave, despite her determination to give her friend every chance to miraculously appear as the minutes ticked by… and then she'd seen her, lugging that large bag under her arm and jogging down the street. After a brief, breathless greeting, her first reaction had been to notice the missing blonde.

"She was going in early this morning, something about a project she was working on." Madoka shrugged, the studies of the older girl being a mystery to her.

"Wonder what she's working on," Sayaka wondered aloud, heading off in the direction of the school.

"I don't know, but it's probably something science-y," the smaller girl guessed.

Azure eyes sparkled with mirth. "Madoka-chan, do you remember-"

"-the time Mami-san did all those cooking 'experiments'?" the pinkette finished, laughing at her friend's startled expression. It was a common memory that Sayaka brought up, and one that she was fond of as well. "Yes, I certainly do! I gained five pounds that week!" She couldn't help giggling as the blunette reached out and poked her in the belly.

"You could do with another five pounds," Sayaka half-joked. Madoka was still one of the smaller girls in their grade, and had been slow to… blossom. Before her friend could get self-conscious, she continued an earlier train of thought. "We should get her to do that again!"

Madoka eyed her friend, considering. "I doubt it would be difficult to convince her. If you asked, I just know she'd-"

"M-me? I'm n-not asking her," the blunette stuttered, color flooding back into her cheeks. Madoka grinned up at her innocently.

"But, if you want cake so bad…"

"She'll do it if _you _ask her!" Sayaka half-suggested, half-implored. They'd begun hanging out again with the amazing blonde earlier this year. The three had known each other casually in junior high, but hadn't seen much of the older girl once Mami had made the transition to high school.

"Did you like the cake… or hanging out with Mami-san all week?" Madoka asked craftily. The blunette at her side stumbled, nearly tripping before pinwheeling her arms to catch herself.

"What? What are you… That cake was delicious, and you know it!" Sayaka fumed, mortified at nearly falling on her face.

"Okay, okay." Madoka grinned, disarming the blunette's suddenly sour attitude. "With midterms coming up, maybe she'll be able to hang out a little more. Afterwards, I mean," she finished.

Sayaka sighed. That was a long time away. Two weeks… _Seems like the only time I see Mami-san is walking to school, and now I don't even get that_. "That'd be nice. Oh, and I have practice after school. If you don't want to walk home alone, you could come watch..."

* * *

><p>"Hello Kaname-san! Miki-san!" The green-haired young woman strode up to the pair of friends at Sayaka's locker. The blunette stopped trying to stuff her backpack into the damn thing and turned to look at their old friend.<p>

"Good morning, Hitomi-chan!" Madoka greeted, just like it was the old days.

_Like she always does, _thought Sayaka. The blunette simply muttered "Hey."

Hitomi had been busy taking advantage of all of the opportunities her family's wealth had provided. She had always been popular and admired, but intensive after-school cram sessions had turned her into something of a phenomenal student. Add to that her participation in several extra-curricular clubs, and the fact that she was still dating Kyousuke, and Sayaka wasn't sad that the green-haired girl had been moved into a higher tiered class.

She wasn't _happy_. Or _jealous_. Just… not sad.

The elegant young woman grinned widely, looking entirely sincere. She made a show of digging into her tiny, obviously designer flap bag. Madoka, knowing full well what the black bag was, and represented, with it's interlocking diamond pattern, and the regular and backward "C" crossed in the middle. "I have those tickets I was telling you about." She held out four laminated cards, each proclaiming _Mitakihara Symphony_ along the upper edge.

"Oh, thank you Hitomi-chan! You are too kind." Madoka smiled, accidentally bumping into Sayaka's rib with her elbow before taking the offered tickets and slipping them into her much more modest shoulder bag.

"Yeah, thanks." Azure eyes narrowed. "Four?"

Hitomi grinned even wider, if that was even possible. "I thought you could bring a date. Both of you," she suggested. "Or, failing that, a friend?"

There was an uncomfortable pause; a bell rang and Hitomi excused herself. "Hope to see you there," she called, retreating down the hallway and joining up with a small cluster of friends Sayaka hadn't even noticed.

Blue eyes exchanged a look with pink, and the two girls shook their heads in unison.

* * *

><p>'So, are we gonna go?" Sayaka whispered across the aisle, eliciting a quick shake of Madoka's head before she turned back, pretending to pay attention to what their math teacher was talking about. Some kind of complex geometry unit. Sayaka sighed, looking at the pinkette out of the corner of her eye as she, too, faced the front.<p>

_Maybe she is actually listening to this,_ Sayaka mused, scribbling a stick-figure fight scene absently in the margin of her notebook. Her friend still had some growing and, er, filling out to do, but the blunette was amazed at the change in her lifelong friend during the past year or so. She'd long ago abandoned the pigtails, and wore her hair straight and long. The start of high school had seen a dramatic shift in the girl's determination, as well. Sometimes, Sayaka thought the only reason she hadn't flunked English yet was because of her study sessions at the Kaname house.

Like all school buildings in the city, the majority of Mitakihara High School was designed with an emphasis on openness, and here the designers had taken the concept to its extreme. Much of the building, including most of the inner walls, were entirely composed of glass. This gave the students a feeling that someone was always watching them, which the administrators pretended was good for character and helped reinforce positive social norms.

Sayaka unconsciously found her gaze drawn to the window. It was promising to be a beautiful day. The vista was impressive, the school sitting atop a modest hill, the panorama of Mitakihara displayed in the distance. Scratching at her nearly-dry scalp, she vowed to get up on time in the future. She'd been so rushed, she hadn't had a chance to stop and appreciate the fact that spring was finally here.

As she stared out at the manicured grounds, the blunette's eyes were drawn to movement. The entrance to the school was a wide iron gate; a gate that was locked shut once the final bell had rung. Someone had apparently overslept even worse than she had; someone was at the entrance. Squinting, she saw a hand grasping between the bars, futilely searching for the latch that would open it. _Sorry, not gonna work, you poor bastard,_ Sayaka thought. She knew from experience that the door was locked with a key, and your only real chance was to somehow get over the eight foot security wall.

Sayaka jumped in her seat as something tapped her shoulder. Looking back, she saw the new girl giving her a strange look. Brow furrowing in consternation, the blunette mimed "What?" before the girl pointed toward the front of the room before adjusting her thick, unflattering glasses.

Nosy little- Sayaka turned forward, to see the front half of the room, teacher included, gazing at her expectantly. The few seconds of silence stretched on uncomfortably. Blue eyes flashed to the side, seeing Madoka's undersized hand clenching and unclenching. Three fingers, then four fingers. Three, then four, again.

"Um… seven?" Seeing the look of dismay on her teacher's wrinkled old face, she blurted out "Just kidding! It's thirty-four, duh." She held her breath.

"Very good," the aging man said, his voice sounding almost disappointed.

His voice droned on, and Sayaka glanced back, wondering what circumstances had led to that poor fool being so late-

Someone was approaching the gate, striding across the lawn with harsh purpose. Wincing in sympathy, Sayaka realized it was the Head Groundskeeper, Hokannin-san, and that hard-ass would ensure that whoever was out there would regret their tardiness.

The figures confronted one another; the one outside obscured by the wrought iron gate, but Hokannin-san's posture looked menacing enough to tell the tale. Still, the figure kept reaching, stupidly fumbling for a non-existent way to open the gate. The Head Groundskeeper reached out, grabbing the student's hand and fumbling with the lock. Undoubtedly she was about to see him grab the offending student and drag them to-

Sayaka gasped aloud as she watched the large man seem to run headlong into the gate, head and shoulders slamming into the wrought iron bars. Watching with uncomprehending eyes, the blunette noticed the man begin turning his head, and with dawning horror watched his feet kick and writhe against the bars. One of his arms began clawing at the air behind him, the other seemed to have disappear into the gate-

"Oh my god!" Sayaka cried, drawing the entire class's attention as she watched in horror. "What the f-"

"Miki-san!" Sensei's voice held a distinct note of warning. "What is the meaning of this outburst?"

The teacher's harsh shout snapped the blunette out of her shock. "There's something out there, it attacked Hokannin-san!" Heart pounding, Sayaka pointed out the window, to where she'd seen the Head Groundskeeper fall backward as the gate lurched open, leaving behind something hang disturbingly between the gate's framework of iron.

Nothing. There was nothing at the gate. "But… I saw…" The class continued to stare at her, a few of the girls beginning to whisper behind their hands. Yori, a boy with spiky black hair, snorted in disbelief. Nakazawa looked like he thought it was a joke, and even Mazushii looked like she felt embarrassed for her. Madoka looked at her with sincere concern.

"Perhaps you are suffering from something," the man said, trying to sound nonchalant, but something in his voice made Sayaka wonder if he was afraid of something. Nervous, at least, all of a sudden. His look was calculating. Had he seen it? "Do you require a visit to the nurse?"

"No, _I'm_ fine, but _he _might be hurt-" Suddenly the whispers got louder.

"Miki-san that is enough! Please report to the infirmary, unless you are being intentionally disruptive with another ill-conceived attempt at humor? Perhaps Assistant Principal Tetsuo needs to have another discussion with you-"

"I'm going!" the blunnette muttered furiously. She glanced at Madoka. "Could I be escorted by the health-"

"I highly doubt your particular ailment requires that another student's learning be disrupted," the man stated firmly. A little wild-eyed, and followed by waves of whispers that trailed in her wake, she left the room and headed toward the nurse's infirmary.

* * *

><p>"Psst." Madoka turned around, bewildered. Usually only Sayaka whispered to her during class, who could be talking to her? She saw the black haired new girl who sat behind Sayaka, a transfer student from another city, staring at her. Surreptitiously, the girl tossed a small wad of paper, but Madoka was unprepared and merely watched it bounce of her shoulder to the ground, her small hand twitching seconds too late. The black haired girl, Homura something, was looking at the paper in disappointment.<p>

While their sensei fiddled around with shapes and formula on the interactive screenboard, Madoka stooped over and slid the paper close with the tips of her fingers, grasping it and sitting up with a guilty expression on her face. Nobody, luckily, seemed to have been paying attention. Not even Masumi, who'd been staring at her all morning. She double-checked; the purple-haired girl was staring at the teacher, but as soon as Madoka glanced at her she turned her head, smiling nervously.

I wonder what's wrong with Masumi-chan? Usually, the girl was so friendly and talkative, but recently she'd been… awkward. That was the word. Shrugging, the pinkette bent over her secret message. The note read: _Is your friend sick? -Akemi Homura._

Smiling, the pinkette shook her head as she wrote, _No. She's just imaginative sometimes. -Kaname Madoka. _She neatly folded the paper into a triangle and tossed it to the transfer student. Her throw was poor, but the black-haired girl's hand deftly picked it up and unfolded it.

Just as she was beginning to understand what the sensei had been discussing, something bounced off the back of her neck. She half-turned, seeing the guilty look on the pale girl's face. She smiled to dispel the thought of any bad feelings, noticing and grabbing the refolded paper. It was a triangle, just like she'd folded it. _Hadn't she read it? _Opening it, Madoka realized the girl had responded, and folded it back up just like she had.

_Have you heard about the sickness? The teachers aren't mentioning it. It sounds bad._

Madoka re-read the message. What was this girl talking about? Homura had joined their class a few weeks ago, and remained perpetually on the fringe. She sat alone, didn't really contribute much in class… if Madoka hadn't been so busy, she would have made an effort to welcome her to the new and undoubtedly strange class, but she just hadn't had the time, other than the standard pleasantries.

Now, she couldn't help wondering if the girl was a little unbalanced, like some of her classmates thought. She turned, catching the purple eyes of the transfer student watching her intently, and felt herself blush. She started to write a response, thinking hard. _No, I haven't_-

But then, she remembered something in the background this morning. Her mother was away on business, due back in tonight, so it had been her father's duty to wake everyone up, which he did in his customary way. As the public radio announcer's deep, calming voice had boomed throughout the house, Madoka had largely ignored the political news and information regarding foreign conflicts in places that had little meaning to her. But there'd been something about a virus; some kind of corn-teen or something, and she remembered it had been in a big city. Maybe Kyoto? She crossed out what she'd been writing. _What do you know about it?_

She passed the note back, this time landing it on the girl's desk. She saw her purple eyes devour the words eagerly, an excited sparkle dancing in them as she looked up at the pinkette.

* * *

><p>Sayaka had stopped in a hallway near the bathrooms, the only rooms without walls you could see through. She'd made her way to a spot overlooking the entrance. She couldn't see much. Was that dark spot a stain? Was that a branch over there, or… Shaking her head, the blunette blew the hair out of her eyes with an exasperated puff of air. Maybe she was seeing things, or had misinterpreted. Sighing, but with a vague sense of relief, she turned to head back towards the nurse's office, trying to think of some way she could be sick.<p>

She stopped, an icy chill running down her back. Turning back to the window, she looked at the gate, watching.

It moved. There must have been a breeze, because the gate swayed inward before slowly closing. Sayaka knew that this gate would never, ever be left open by any of the custodial staff, most especially the Head Groundskeeper.

Feeling her stomach tying itself into a knot, Sayaka bolted for the stairwell. She had to get a better look, figure out what was going on. Someone in authority needed to know about what she saw… but they needed to take her seriously. She was the proverbial girl-who-cried-kappa, but if she could find some something, some kind of _evidence_...

* * *

><p>Madoka was getting scared. Akemi-san had described some graphic symptoms; the fever, the spasms and vomiting and rumors of bleeding from all manner of orifices. She'd then gone on to suggest that this problem was more widespread than the government was letting on. The pinkette was at first skeptical, then nervous, and increasingly felt panicked at the thought of some contagion. <em>But it was just some isolated outbreaks, right? This is something the government has been preparing to deal with.<em> Swine flu, bird flu… so many contagions seemed to develop inside their great neighbor China, it had been national policy to implement security measures for just such an epidemic. _Right? Like, they had vaccines and stuff ready, didn't they?_

* * *

><p>Stuffing a discarded pencil in the doorway to prevent it from shutting and locking her out, Sayaka crept across the courtyard, steeling her nerves. She glanced back and forth, but there was nothing, no movement, anywhere. She imagined the stares of her classmates, the entire front of the school able to see her as she strode the last dozen meters.<p>

She'd sighed, actually, as she approached. A sense of absurd relief as she noticed nothing. What she'd seen outside was a lump of discarded clothing. The gate was open, but there was no-

Five meters from the gate, she saw the dark, glistening wetness, a red-brown smear leading across the lush, green lawn. Away, toward the loading docks.

I have a really bad feeling about this. She eyed the gate; if her suspicions were at all justified, something horribly dangerous was inside the wall. Mass murderer, serial killer, homicidal maniac… now might be her only chance to escape.

Shaking her head, she bolted back toward the main entry. Nobody knew. She had to warn them. She had to keep her friend safe. Feeling the weight of an awesome responsibility descend on her shoulders, Sayaka tore through the hallway on the way to the infirmary.

* * *

><p>Homura read and re-read the pinkette's responses, noting the girl's sincere need for reassurance. Sadly, she shook her head. She was just about to scrawl a hasty response, spurred on by Madoka's yearning glance back at her, making her heart do funny things for a moment. It hardly mattered that the girl looked <em>especially <em>at the wrinkled, folded paper on the transfer student's desk. A gentle chime caused everyone's heads to turn, staring at the speaker hanging in the corner of the room.

Madoka felt a pang of foreboding, wondering what would cause the principal to give a school-wide announcement in the middle of second period.

* * *

><p>Pale faced, Sayaka burst through the infirmary doors, shouting about people getting murdered. The nurse had silenced her with a stern exclamation of disapproval.<p>

"I'm telling you, I saw his arm ripped right off!" Sayaka said forcefully, drawing several strange looks from the few other student's in the infirmary. Someone was laying on a cot, covered in a blanket, occasionally shaking from a fit of coughing.

"Miki Sayaka, you ought to be ashamed of yourself. You're upsetting these students," the nurse waved vaguely at the occupied chairs, and Sayaka noticed that the other students were looking at her like she was crazy.

"But-"

"Go back to class, young lady. I don't have time for your foolishness, some people here are actually in need of medical attention," she finished, glancing over at the girl on the cot. She looked at Sayaka closely for a moment. "You haven't been feeling…. feverish, have you?" she asked, as if the thought had just occurred to her.

"Um, no, not re-"

"Then get out of here!" she roared, causing several of the other students to jump.

Chiming preceded an announcement of some kind. Sayaka stopped just outside the door, listening.

* * *

><p>"Students and faculty, this is Principal Akira. I'm sure some of you have heard talk about some kind of outbrea-, er, <em>illness <em>that's going around." _I knew it,_ thought Homura, sitting on the edge of her seat, purple eyes sparkling with excitement meeting the worried pink pair that glanced back at her. "I've just received word that the EDCO has issued a city-wide warning, and will be implementing a brief period of voluntary quarantine." _Oh no! _worried Madoka. "School will be cancelled for this afternoon; after third period, students will-"

* * *

><p><em>No school! <em>celebrated Sayaka automatically, before there was a loud banging noise over the intercom, and the principal's voice got stern.

"Excuse me. _Excuse _me. Hey! You can't just barge in… Hokannin-san? W-wait, are you… oh god, what's wrong with you? Are you sick? My god, man. _Your arm!_ Are you… no. No! NOOO! Get off me!"

Behind her, Sayaka heard the nurse making shushing sounds to the worried murmuring of the students in her care. The blunette, wild-eyed, took off down the hallway, heading back to her classroom. _Madoka_!

* * *

><p>Everywhere, throughout the school, students were turning to their neighbors, wide-eyed, shocked looks seeking some kind of solace as the sounds got progressively worse. An inhuman growling, like a wild animal, faded in an out. The could hear a struggle, grunting sounds, paper rustling, something falling over. "AHHH!" came an amplified cry, and everyone winced or put hands to their ears as they heard a grown man begin to scream. "NOOO! HELP ME, SOMEONE HELP! GOD NOOO! AGGRURGGGUGGgguggghghh-" the last was a hideously clear gurgling, liquid sound, and then a low, horrifying moan echoed throughout the school.<p>

Madoka was looking at the speaker, waiting to hear their principal come back on, announcing everything was alright, it was all a joke. A strange, confusing, crazy joke. Homura glanced briefly at their sensei, who was himself staring at the source of the hideous sound, a blank, shell-shocked look on his ancient face.

The low, terrible moan grew startlingly loud, and, horrifyingly, impossibly, a second, equally hideous moan joined the first, low and monstrous over the intercom, an unholy duet that reverberated through the glass halls.

* * *

><p><strong>If you're squeamish, probably best to stop now.<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

_It Begins..._

* * *

><p>Somebody screamed.<p>

"C-calm down! Everyone, remain in your seats." As the sensei moved towards the door, Madoka glanced around. The rooms on either side were also filled with suddenly distraught, panicking students. Her own nerves had already been on edge, with all of Homura's talk of the disease, but the screams and moans were just too much.

Shaking, she glanced over her shoulder. "D-did you know about th-this?" she stammered, aware that nobody was paying the sensei's instructions any heed.

Somewhere, down the hall, someone screamed. Homura's eyes darted around nervously, and she shook her head.

The worried murmurs became panicked chatter, and soon, all of the classrooms had erupted in shouting. Madoka cringed, pressing hands over her ears as chaos engulfed the school.

* * *

><p>Sayaka skidded around the corner, her well-worn sneakers barely finding purchase on the tiled floor. It was two more strides before she noticed <em>them<em>.

Falling backwards, feeling her tailbone collide painfully with the unforgiving floor, the blunette made a whimpering sound in the back of her throat, blinking back tears of pain.

A shambling figure, a well-built man of middle years, turned his head, piercing her with bloodshot eyes. _Not bloodshot,_ she thought, gritting her teeth as she scrambled across the floor with hands and feet, trying to back the hell up as fast as possible. The eyes were completely red around the iris, no white at all. Like they were swimming in blood-

The man was dressed in the familiar garb of one of the maintenance personnel, torn along the shoulder. Above the man's arm, a horrible crimson gash bled freely, a substantial chunk of the skin torn away; in the second that she watched, it seemed to throb and darken before her eyes. Blood soaked the dark uniform, the entire left side coated in a glistening sheen.

The smell hit her; it was like the man had shit his pants, the stench making her gag.

Two meters away, the man lunged forward. Sayaka felt something grab her foot as she desperately backpedaled on all fours, jerking her leg as hard as she could. Grasping fingers fell away as her laces came undone, and she pushed herself off the ground before sprinting in the opposite direction.

Heart pounding at triple speed, Sayaka felt every stride in her poor, abused coccyx, but adrenaline and fear helped her grit her teeth and bear it. Glancing back, she saw the thing stumble after her, the distance widening. Then she saw the two other figures, one wearing a cafeteria uniform coated in red. The other's head seemed to slump, chin resting on collarbone like it was gazing at it's feet. As the thing, because it was obviously just that, now, a thing… as it turned, she saw the gaping wound beneath its jaw, wet, glistening muscle visible. The lurching horror's throat had been torn, nearly to it's spine, swaying limply as it spun to face her.

With a horrible, gurgling moan, the creature strode forward, and the three began to stagger toward her at a jog.

_Oh shit oh shit oshitoshitoshitoshit!_

* * *

><p>"Sorry, Kyousuke-kun. She'll be back soon, I know it." Looking worried, the grey-haired boy walked back to his friends. Madoka swallowed, trying to reassure herself as well as the musician. <em>She'll be back.<em>

"Kaname-san, we should go." Madoka frowned, glancing at the raven-haired girl who tugged at her sleeve insistently. "We should leave."

"But, we are supposed to stay…" The pinkette's head was spinning. Their teacher had only been gone for a few minutes; at least the horrible noises over the intercom had stopped. So far, no students had left their rooms, but everywhere, everyone was looking tense, and several groups had gathered near the glass doors that opened into the hallway. "And Sayaka-chan…"

One of the upperclassmen was the first to leave. Followed quickly by the majority of his class, the juniors exited in a heaving mass of bodies, everyone trying to be the first one out. Immediately, the jumble disintegrated, students flowing down the halls in both directions, a few remaining to look around in confusion.

The dam burst. Students began running around, some fleeing into the hallway, others pacing the room in agitation. Shouting and cursing students pushed one another in a seething mass, some briefly trampled during the mass exodus. Clusters of students hotly debated what to do, shrill voices and panicked arguments erupted during this new wave of confusion.

Masumi watched the pinkette talking with the new girl. She'd struck up conversations with Madoka almost every day for nearly a month. Today was supposed to be the day… She watched the transfer student, envying the attention she was recieving. _It was supposed to be me._ Frowning, she took a step forward before stopping. "Let's go," Hikaru was saying. "This is starting to creep me out."

"Other people already left," Yori stated, running a hand through his spiky black hair. "We gotta get out of here-"

"Masumi-chan, what do you think?"

Scratching at her purple hair, Masumi shrugged. "Probably leave. I'll go see what everyone else is going to do," she offered, resolutely heading to the corner where Homura was talking to Madoka.

"Ah, hello, Kaname-san. Akemi-san." Masumi bowed slightly less for Homura than she did to Madoka, whose troubled face lit up in a smile.

"Hi, Masumi-chan! Are you alright?" Madoka's question cut right to her heart, the earnest concern and worry shining through her eyes and resonating through her voice.

"Y-yes, Kaname-san, thank you for your concern." Trying to avoid drawing attention to the sudden bloom of color her cheeks had developed, she got straight to the point. "We think it's time to leave. This is scary. Would you consider coming with us?"

Madoka grinned, heartened by the offer. "Oh wow, thank you Masum-"

"No, we won't," Homura stated flatly. The pinkette turned to stare at her with a hurt expression, and the purple-haired girl could barely restrain the sharp burst of rage.

"Something's wrong, you need to-"

Homura drew Madoka close, staring daggers at the other girl. "I don't think it's a good idea to get stuck following them," she said, nodding at the girl's friends. "We're better off by ourselves."

"But… safety in numbers…?" Madoka asked, confused.

"Any one of them might have whatever it is." Homura whispered. "The disease."

Madoka's lips compressed into a tight line as she thought.

"Madoka?" Masumi's voice was trying to be hopeful, but sounded so plaintive in her own head it shamed her. She'd planned it all out. Today was going to be the day that she finally approached the dainty pinkette, the girl she thought about all the time. She'd brought the pinkette's favorite dessert, and would just happen to offer to share it with her, and then they'd get to talking, and she'd invite the petite little cutie out… not on a date, exactly. Just two friends, spending some time together, alone and uninterrupted.

_I'd be such a good friend! _She thought desperately. _And more, so much more_… Sighing, she refocused on the object of her affection, who was looking distinctly uncomfortable under her adoring gaze.

"I'm sorry," Madoka began, and Masumi's world briefly crumbled. "I… I think I'm going to wait for Sayaka-chan," she said apologetically. Homura groaned in exasperation.

The noises in the hallway abruptly took on a different tone. The panicked shouts and general hollering that had been coming from the hallway as students piled out to join the growing number who'd left... _changed_. It wasn't subtle; suddenly the excitable, tense noises shifted to screams of surprise and terror.

Everyone in the classroom spun around, heads turning to face the exit door to the north, the one leading back to the cafeteria and gymnasium. That's where the screams were coming from. The double doors burst open, and a crowd of students was running back in, some entering classrooms and overturning desks, others fleeing down the hallway toward the other exit.

Someone, another freshman, Madoka thought, slipped as he came through the doors, his head colliding with the floor in a terrific impact. Nobody helped him rise; in fact he was trod upon by several of the panicked mob. Reaching out, the pinkette found the hands of Homura and Masumi without looking, her entire world focused on the poor, dazed boy as she struggled to rise. Pushing himself up with one arm-

Then _they _were upon him.

Screaming, Madoka turned away, but it was too late. Two shambling figures, draped in glistening, wet clothing, fell upon the prone boy. Claw-like hands descended, clutching and tearing, and two hideous, slavering maws opened wide-

It had gone deathly silent as every single student held their breath.

The boy screamed. The sound, filled with terror and despair, seemed to shake the glass walls. One of the monsters clamped down on his neck, and the scream wavered, gurgling hideously as the thing tore its head away, taking a chunk of flesh with it.

Gasps and moans, weeping and prayer, the thump of someone hitting the floor in a faint. The sounds were meaningless; Madoka found herself fixated on the arterial spray that spattered the glass wall, crimson flowing down the pane in waves. Glancing at the thing that had done this unspeakable thing, she saw with sick fascination that it appeared to be _chewing _the gobbet of the poor boy's throat.

The pinkette leaned over and emptied her stomach noisily, Homura dancing backward just in time to avoid the mess.

* * *

><p><em>I should check on the girls,<em> Mami thought. The classes on the upper level had, for the most part, fled the building. She'd considered making her way to the faculty area to see what was really going on. Obviously, the principal had been attacked. Combined with all this talk about some deadly super-flu…

But, she knew her friends were out there, relying on her guidance. She'd taken the pair under her wing, and had been surprisingly pleased at how much the girls had matured over the previous year.

Pulling up her thigh-high stockings, Mami ran her hands down the pleats of her short skirt. Not because they were sweaty. She wasn't nervous. Wasn't _very _nervous, at least. Taking a breath, the blonde gave her curls a tug and headed toward the stairwell.

* * *

><p>"We need to go!" Homura was saying, shouting, but Madoka could only shake her head, trying to wake up from the horrible nightmare that had intruded into her normal, quiet life. She jumped, startled, as the doors burst open, drawing her eyes from the two crouched forms, crimson dripping from their mouths as they bent over that poor boy.<p>

Madoka felt all sense of hope drain out of her. As the figure, clad in the expensive-looking suit, shambled through the doorway, her eyes were not drawn to the several forms that followed close behind, lurching through the growing pool of dark blood that slowly seeped across the hallway. She saw only her sensei's face, the wrinkled, aged man hideously deformed in a hateful snarl. When he opened its mouth and moaned, Madoka felt the world go fuzzy and everything went blissfully dark.

* * *

><p>Fumbling with the dial for her combination lock, Sayaka wiped her fingers on her blouse. <em>Of all the times to have a problem with my stupid locker combination<em>, she thought, desperately trying to keep it together.

She'd encountered more of the things after doubling back. After losing sight of the original three, she'd turned a corner and found herself staring into the cold, dead eyes of what must have been half of the office staff. As they'd turned, she'd continued down the hallway, hoping to reach the stairwell.

But the stairwell had been a scene straight out of hell. Blood, so _much _of it, spilling down the stairs, and something up above was screaming and pleading. Clamping her hands over her ears as the screams became more frantic, Sayaka backed out, trying to figure out what to do next.

She was trapped; the hallways and stairway leading back to the classrooms were all full of those things.

The dead. The walking, unquiet, restless dead. _Fucking zombies, _Sayaka thought. _And they said it would never happen._

If she couldn't find a clear path…

She'd have to clear a path for herself.

"YES!" she exclaimed, too loudly, as the lock popped open. Glancing around nervously, she reached in and grabbed the large, heavy duffel bag she lugged to school three days a week. With desperate need, she unzipped the entire length of the thing, revealing her equipment inside.

A long, shaky breath became a relieved sigh as she reached in, fingers clasping greedily.

* * *

><p><em>It smelled terrible. Like Tatsuya had pooped his pants again.<em> "Bad boy," Madoka murmured indistinctly, wrinkling her nose. Then something poked her firmly.

She blinked. "Homura-chan? Why are you up there?" It took a moment for the pinkette to realize she lay on the floor, a worried and impatient looking transfer-student standing above her.

Reaching down, Homura grunted as she helped the small girl back to her feet. She glanced around, seeing nothing but doom.

As her new friend had collapsed, the creatures had advanced into the hallway, carrying with them a miasma of excrement. Out of the six visible classrooms, perhaps three dozen students remained. Her teacher, along with the three that stumbled along behind him, had paused over the other pair, still feasting upon their fallen prey. After a moment, they continued on down the hallway, pressing against the glass after noticing the students who remained inside, smearing it with blood and saliva.

Homura could only watch with the remaining students in her room as the two crouched over the remains of the boy stood up, shambling over to join the other five. The ineffectual grasping and pushing became pounding and slamming as the creatures began to beat against the door, against the long glass wall, their fists battering and smashing.

Madoka blinked, feeling the world spin. Then, the sound of glass shattering drew her attention.

Four students remained in the room across the hall. They'd backed into the far corner, putting the teacher's desk between themselves and the door. As the glass began to crack, bloody streaks and fist-prints obscured the monsters for a moment before the entire pane shattered, sending a cascade of glass shards to the floor.

Even as they screamed, instinctively the students had shielded their eyes, and by the time they recovered, the creatures were upon them.

Madoka watched in horror as her former teacher dragged down a young girl, the struggle hidden behind the desk but her kicking, frantic legs all to visible, the screams all to clear. The other creatures lunged at the remaining students, another girl and a young man grabbed by the claw-like hands in an unbreakable grip.

"HELP US!" the boy cried, screaming as a bony hand was shoved through his abdomen, pinned against the wall. As the arm withdrew, a dark, wet rope seemed to spill out of the wound, and his screaming abruptly cut off.

The girl at his side, however, continued her screaming prayers, the fervent cries transforming into pure pain as her arm was wrenched behind her back with an audible snap. Homura saw the white of bone jutting through the shattered arm, as white as the teeth behind her screaming lips. Open mouths descended and as the screaming slowly faded, the pool of crimson from behind the desk spread across the floor with surprising speed.

"We've got to go!" Homura whispered fiercely. Two of the creatures, slow to join the others, lingered in the hallway, several meters from the door to their room. The pair looked up, down the hallway, as students from one of the far room fled in panic, lurching after their own prey.

It was now or never. "Nothing between us and the door," Homura whispered encouragingly. "But Kaname-san, we have to go now-"

To her dismay, she heard the sound of running, and looked up to see several of their classmates exit the room, the foolish boy Yori in the lead. Furious, she tugged on Madoka's arm, shooting a dark look at the purple-haired girl who stood near the doorway, looking torn.

"Go without me," Masumi called to her friends, none of which had noticed or expressed concern over her absence. The three hustled toward the double doors, gingerly stepping through the pool of coagulating fluid surrounding the mutilated corpse of the boy.

Hikaru stopped at the edge, taking a deep breath. As she braced herself to stride past the disgusting, torn body, with it's missing skin and exposed muscle and bone, she gasped, seeing the thing twitch out of the corner of her eye. Too late, she opened her mouth to call out a warning, but the thing shuddered, grasping out with both arms as Yori passed.

The spiky-haired boy's eyes widened in surprise, then dawning horror as the former classmate pulled him down, tearing into him with its teeth. Hikaru screamed as the creature's fingers latched around Yori's opened mouth, and with a sickening wrench the bottom half of the boy's face was torn off in a shower of blood. Something wet and pink dangled from the hole in his throat, but death was not quick to end poor Yori's suffering, and he was slowly eaten alive while his friend clutched helplessly at her green hair and screamed.

Hikaru couldn't hear the warnings through her screaming, and Madoka's shout had gone unheeded. Too late, she gasped for breath and heard the frantic sound from the room down the hall, turning just in time to see the pale, dead hands clasp around her throat as a crimson-stained, dripping maw leaned in…

* * *

><p>Carefully poking her head around the corner, Mami looked both ways, scanning for danger as she caught her breath. A deadly strain of fast acting ebola, or North Korean terrorists, or crazed anti-government radicals… she'd been prepared for just about anything. Even the Chinese.<p>

Not this.

Looking down, she focused herself inward, a cold, all-consuming sun sucking away her worldly concerns. Focusing on the nothing, she watched her hands cease their trembling. _I can do this._ For all she knew, she had friends counting on her.

* * *

><p>Kyousuke scanned the shapes looming throughout the area, trying not to see them as individual beings. Gore spattered, red-eyed and moaning, the creatures were like something out of a nightmare.<p>

Regretfully eying the blood-soaked hallway, the grey-haired boy acknowledged that there would probably be no violin practice today.

"Kyousuke-kun," tried Nakazawa, for what seemed like the fiftieth time, picking up another desk and placing it beside the doorway. "You gonna help me, man?"

The violinist shook his head to clear it. "Yes, sorry Nakazawa." His friend smiled and the two picked up another desk, filling in a perimeter around the walls. It seemed silly; what was a small desk going to do when the things were somehow able to break down the tempered glass with their fists? But it was something to do.

They were trapped.

After the failed attempt by Hikaru and company to flee, the zombies had lurched out of the classroom across the way, numbers swollen from the freshly killed students. They'd watched, sickened and fascinated and completely disgusted as the corpses had begun to twitch and shake, the partially-consumed bodies reanimating as if by some fell magic.

Less than a dozen students remained between the classrooms.

"We need to go out the south entrance," Homura stated, growing concerned by the far-off look in the pinkette's eyes. She turned her attention to the males. "No one has returned after heading through those doors."

The boys paused, glanced at one another, both thinking how ominous that particular way of phrasing it was.

"No one has returned, screaming and fleeing from zombies, after heading through those doors. Correct?" When she put it that way, it was easier to swallow. "So, we need to get out that way."

The brown-haired boy ran both hands through his long hair, grinning stupidly. "Okay, boss, you tell us what to do and we'll figure out how to do it."

Homura was unnerved, first thinking the boy was mocking her, then realizing he wasn't. Kamijou watched, blank-faced, seeming without opinion. He certainly hadn't been coming up with any ideas.

Madoka, comforted by the arm Masumi had lain across her shoulder, stared outside. The skyline was strange; not a cloud in the sky, but everything in the distance was dark, murky. She saw flashing lights in the distance, imagining security forces being called in to protect the students and faculty, on their way to rescue everyone. "I can see them! They're coming, they're coming for us!" Madoka cried, gleefully pointing out the window, her sense of relief palpable. The others, startled by her words despite the tone of voice, glanced at her, then out the window.

"Oh, damn…" Nakazawa breathed.

"It's burning," murmured Kyousuke. "Mitakihara is burning." _It's… beautiful._

"No, no, no nonononono." Madoka pulled at her hair, anything to distract her from this new disaster, watching the flashing lights disappear into the distance. Masumi clutched her rightly, pink and purple hair pressed together. Homura patted the pinkette on the back awkwardly, counting zombies.

"There's twelve in the hallway. Two between us and the south exit; ten to the north." Homura thought quickly. "We just need to get past those two…"

"But how?" Nakazawa asked, hoping for a better, different idea. "They grab you and it's over! No way we can get past them, there's not enough room in this stupid hallway to maneuver." Escape directly outside was impossible; the glass-like wall along the exterior was military-grade reinforced. Bulletproof, and certainly student-proof.

"Sayaka might be coming back," Kyousuke added. "Maybe we should just finish barricading and wait it out…"

Homura looked at him in disdain. "You think Miki-san is going to come back through those doors, with the ten zombies milling around? Even if she did, what purpose would it serve to save her a seat when we're trapped in here like cows waiting to be slaughtered?" She looked at him carefully; as a recent transplant and someone who kept to herself, Homura had been unable to shield herself from all the gossip and rumor that seemed to spread through the school like wildfire. "Isn't Shizuki-san your girlfriend? Shouldn't you be concerned with making sure she's safe?"

Kyousuke's eyes grew wide and his jaw dropped slightly. _I'm in so much trouble,_ he thought, wondering how the prospect of a girlfriend's ire could, even momentarily, eclipse the situation he found himself in.

* * *

><p>As the creatures outside began to moan, shuffling aimlessly about, Masumi knew exactly what she had to do.<p>

"Madoka-chan," she began, daring to call the girl by that cherished nickname for the first time. "Be brave. We'll get out of this." Taking a deep breath, she stood up.

"I know what to do," she said, drawing the looks of the four other students left in the room. "I'm going to draw those two away. I'll run out the door, get their attention, and duck into that classroom," she pointed across the way, at the room with the shattered glass wall. "I'll run around the desks, keeping them busy, while the rest of you sneak out the door!" she finished with a smile, looking warmly at the obviously concerned pinkette.

"Masumi-chan, no, it's too dangerous."

Homura, who'd been listening with a complete lack of expression, chimed in. "It might be our only chance," she stated softly, nodding toward the north set of doors. The door swung inward, and a figure lurched into view, the silhouettes of several others visible through the briefly open doorway.

All appeared to be former students.

Madoka shuddered, watching Yori and Hikaru stumble about, their eyes hollow and blood red, clothing ripped and soaked with their life's blood. She felt a pair of arms encircle her from behind, and turned to see purple hair rest briefly on her shoulder. "Madoka-chan, I… I just wanted to say, now… I… I think… I'd really like... to be your friend," she finished, mindful of the stares of the others.

"I'd like that," Madoka breathed. "I'd like to be your… friend."

Before she could think of a reason not to, the purple haired girl planted a quick kiss on the shorter girl's cheek, blushing furiously before marching over to the door. "Be careful," Madoka pleaded. Nakazawa gave her an encouraging pat on the shoulder, looking obviously relieved that it wasn't him going out there.

"I haven't been running cross-country since sixth grade just for fun," she smiled, trying to keep from hyperventilating. All the running, all the training, it all came down to this, the opportunity to save the person she had such intense feelings for. To be the hero!

She nodded, and Nakazawa opened the door while the others watched on, tense and hopeful.

Feeling her knees shaking as she walked, Masumi took a tentative step forward, then another. She glanced behind her, but the zombies on the far side of the hall milled about the pool of blood, remaining near the double doorway. She took another step, then another.

The two on her side of the hallway looked up in unison, blood red eyes staring out of pale, unhealthy faces that suddenly twisted as, moaning, the creatures advanced on her.

_Now or never_, she thought, backing up to make certain they were following before turning to run past the glass doorway the four others were staring out of.

_Oh my god, she's so brave!_ thought Madoka, heart in her throat as she hoped, _prayed _for the girls safety.

Glass crunched beneath her uniform-complaint shoes as Masumi darted into the abandoned, blood-drenched classroom, keeping her eyes off of the long arcs of gore that painted the wall behind the teacher's desk. She skipped past the rows of desks, turning to watch her two pursuers enter the room, waiting for an opening.

As soon as the zombies had stepped out of the hallway, Nakazawa opened the door. "Everybody out!" They hurried toward the south doors, amazed and thrilled at the success of their plan.

Clearing the purple hair out of her eyes, Masumi watched the pair of shuffling, bloody monsters approach, glancing down the hall to make sure the rest remained where they were. She couldn't help smiling as she saw a distinctive, diminutive pink-headed figure dash out of the room.

"Everybody back!" Nakazawa screamed, a dozen zombies just beyond the double-doors lunging at his heels. "Back!" Madoka felt a powerful grip take hold of her arm and drag her as she glanced between the onrushing horde and the brave, heroic girl in the room. "Masumi-chan!"

Masumi looked up, uncomprehending of what she saw. A wave of the creatures was pouring out of the southern doors, the supposedly safe doors, the place they were going to escape… Her eyes widened in horror-if she didn't get out of here, soon, she'd be cut off!

"Masumi-chan!"

Glancing at her two mindless opponents, she decided on immediate action. The approaching horde was already halfway to the glass door of their classroom. Gathering herself, she dodged out of the way as one of the creatures in the room with her lurched forward. arms outstretched. It's fingers tightened around her foot, and desperately she kicked away, but felt herself dragged to the ground.

"MASUMIIII!"

Twisting her torso, the purple-haired girl yanked her foot right out of her shoe, leaving the gore-faced monster to its prize as she scooted away. Standing, she spun, running toward the room with Madoka-

The fall had been costly. Madoka, sobbing, pressed up against the glass, obscured by the advancing mob of undead. _No_, Masumi thought. _This wasn't how it was supposed to happen_. Turning, she saw the rest of the zombies down the hall had been riled, and were advancing on her.

Panting, unable to catch her breath, heart aching like she was having some kind of attack, the purple-haired girl ducked into another classroom, leaning against the door once inside. Almost immediately, the door was pushed inward as the creatures pressed up against it. Fumbling with an outstretched foot, she slid a desk over and jammed it against the door.

The others were shouting at her, but behind two panes of glass the sound was muted; the banging and moaning much more pressing. "Help. Somebody! Help me!"

* * *

><p>Madoka's throat was raw from shouting, and suddenly Homura's hand was wrapped around her mouth, stifling her. Sobbing, she could only watch as the purple-haired girl tried desperately to move the teacher's larger desk in front of the door, but only manage to drag it halfway across the room before the zombies burst through her makeshift barricade. Sobbing, she watched the girl duck underneath the grasp of one of the horrors, spinning the side as another approached. She tried to leap away from the next, but something managed to grab her skirt and she was pulled down.<p>

"NOOOO!"

Sobbing, Madoka buried her head in Homura's shoulder, her body wracked with terrible pain as Masumi, a friend she hadn't known she'd had until today, was torn limb from limb, the pitiful, begging screams ending abruptly with a spray of vital fluid as first one arm, then another, were ripped from her body to be fed upon by the hungry mob of slavering ghouls.

* * *

><p>Homura took a shaky breath, trying to enjoy what might be her final moments. Hugging the pinkette tightly, she considered that there were worse ways to go, than with Madoka in her embrace.<p>

Then, realizing what would happen to her, to the sweet, innocent _pinkette_, after they died… coming back, hungry and twisted and monstrous...

There _were _no worse ways to go. This was, unquestionably, the worst.

* * *

><p><strong>Not really OCs, these 'characters' are based off of Madoka's real classmates, none of whom have names so, yeah.<br>**

**As always, any feedback is appreciated. Especially speculation. Who will die first? How? What would you do, if there was a Japanese zombipocalypse and you were a high school girl? Who do you think _should_ die first?**

**Any thoughts, ideas and tropes of the genre are very, very welcome. Some of the girls will probably escape the school; what happens next is open to suggestion.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

_In the Hallway, Without a Pass_

* * *

><p>Knowing that something was <em>wrong<em> with her, that she should be terrified and horrified, Madoka felt nothing as she watched the hideous spectacle play out before her. Across the hallway, through blood-streaked glass, she stared as the group knelt greedily over Masumi. She blinked, rivulets of tears coursing down both cheeks. Distantly, she heard voices, raised in concern, but one thought kept running through her mind, the one truth she could cling to.

_There's no way this could get any worse._

She kept on thinking it, even as she saw the figures rise, blood and viscera dripping from their hands and faces. _This is as bad as it gets._ The armless, ruined torso beginning to twitch as it lay in a pool of it's own fluids, abandoned and discarded.

Slowly, the pinkette's head turned, unconsciously tracking motion to the right, at the end of the hallway by the doors.

Madoka felt a scream rising in her throat, so raw already that she could taste blood. Pink eyes stared hopelessly as the doors swung in again, seeing the blood-soaked figure step into the hallway, one arm trailing behind awkwardly. The uniform was just that, nondescript and coated in gore... but there was no mistaking that shock of blue hair, or the twisted, snarling face of what had once been her best friend.

"S-S-Sayaka-chan!" Madoka sobbed, the sound conveying all of the agony and confusion. _Why? Why was this happening?_ Kyousuke and Nakazawa winced as the unliving swung their heads towards the sound, the horrible red eyes searching for fresh meat.

Homura followed the pinkette's gaze, fumbling with her glasses as she jerked back in disbelief.

* * *

><p>"What's taking so long? I thought you said we needed to get out of here."<p>

Mami, with an effort, refrained from rolling her eyes, even though her back was to the girl. _It's a stressful situation_, she reminded herself. Her nerves were stretched thin as it was. She watched the hallway, straining her ears for any sign of-

"You said 'immediately-'"

"Shh!" Mami shushed.

The green-haired girl let out a petulant sigh, shuffling her feet impatiently. "This is _not _immediate."

With a disbelieving stare, Mami turned around, her long golden curls hanging past her shoulders as she leaned forward, her face centimeters away from the other girl. "Shizuki Hitomi, I realize this has been a very difficult day, _for all of us,_" she added meaningfully, "but I'm listening for _those things_, so if you'd be so kind as to _keep a lid on it_ I'd be very appreciative." She started to turn back, but Hitomi beat her to it.

"We were fine where we were, and ever since you dragged us away we've been running for our lives-"

"Dragged you away?" Mami snarled before catching herself. A deep, calming breath later and the anger dissolved, at least on the outside.

"Girls," Saotome-sensei interjected, worried at the noise. Her voice quavered and she constantly fiddled with her dark-rimmed glasses. "Please, let's not waste energy arguing. Mami-san has done well by us so far, Hitomi-san. She'll get us outside. " Mami was especially glad for the teacher's presence. Not that Kazuko was inspiring, or even comforting. Frankly, the woman was a bit of a mess. But in her purse was their Plan B, the keys to her car, parked outside in the teachers' lot.

Hitomi kept herself from frowning, nodding as if in agreement. But inside, she was seething. It had been _her_, after all, who'd saved Kazuko, warning her of the unknown danger after taking shelter inside of the women's bathroom. Her and-

Kaede piped in. "Let's do what Mami-san wants, Hitomi-chan!" The girl's light brown pigtails swayed as she nodded her head.

_Traitorous little sycophant,_ Hitomi thought, despising the girl for her abrupt shift in loyalty. _Just because someone snatched you away from the grip of a cannibalistic monster didn't mean… anything, really! It was more like being in the right place at the right time._

The sour line of thinking gave Mami enough time to feel confident with her reconnaissance. "I'll go first. Wait for my signal." Hefting the splintered, shoulder height staff in her hands, she crept forward, shifting her grip on the bloody haft nervously. Just like with her guns, it comforted her to sort of… _commune_ with the object. Made it feel more familiar. _For something that began the day as a mop, you've had an interesting morning._

They were in the specialist wing of the school; the third level contained the art, dance, production and recording studios, one of the few places in the school not visible from nearby classrooms. In their infinite wisdom, the designers had decided that watching the young women's fitness class perform their yoga exercises would not be conducive to a productive learning environment. Cut off from the rest of the school, it seemed deceptively peaceful.

Mami waved three times, signalling the all clear. She waited impatiently as the green-haired snobby girl dragged her feet. "Now, the dangerous part." The blonde gingerly opened the door to the stairwell, holding her breath.

* * *

><p>"S-S-Sayaka-chan!"<p>

The blue-haired figure looked up, battle-snarl melting as a wild grin spreading across her face. "Madoka! Kyousuke!" There they were, her best friends, not dead, not _things_, and she was only a classroom away! A large pack of the shambling figures approached the classroom door, but several turned as the blunette spoke, a low moan issuing from the group as they lurched down the hallway towards her. Disgustingly, one unrecognizable mess amongst the four was just a torso and head, both arms missing. It's advance was particularly disturbing, from the legs up strangely immobile.

Sayaka spun into action as the first of the figures came within striking distance. Faced with four opponents in the immediate vicinity, there was no time to waste. In her trek through the hellish hallways of the infested high school, the blunette had learned not to bother with the usual defenses; broken arms and bruised ribs seem to have absolutely no effect at stopping them.

She'd been ready, holding her bokken with one arm, low and poised to arc in a tremendous overhand chop. Ready for the worst. The whole fricking school was a riot of screaming and running and flesh-eating monstrosities. And the pools of blood… she'd slipped _twice_! Her hands clenched in anticipation. The smooth, hard, reassuringly heavy wood of the practice sword felt like an extension of her mind as she pivoted, bringing the curved edge of the 'blade' down on the nearest zombie's head.

"S-Saya-_hic_-ka?"Madoka hiccuped through her tears as a spray of brain matter obscured their vision, using shaky arms to get up off her knees. Homura held her breath, her concern for the pinkette vanishing as she watched the scene unfold, horrified and fascinated and unable to tear her gaze away. The other three had closed in-

Nakazawa made a low, nervous sound as the blunette danced back as the first zombie fell. Lunging, a second reached out with both arms, and Sayaka reversed course suddenly, stepping right into it.

"No!" Homura whispered, but even as she said it the blunette's plan became clear. Thrusting out with both arms, the pointed tip of the wooden sword caught the creature just underneath the chin, jabbing up and in past the roof of it's mouth. The zombie gave a shudder as she twirled the embedded object and the arms dropped limply, it's gore-soaked cafeteria uniform glistening as it fell backward as she gave it a shove with her foot. The body crashed into the next, armless freak, blocking one of the remaining two that were within striking distance.

Homura briefly glanced at the door to the classroom; the bloody smears and demonic faces of the monsters outside nightmarish as they began to push, then slam against the glass. Kyousuke made a whimpering noise from behind the pile of desks. "Sayaka-san, we need help!" He cried, voice breaking. "They're getting in!" he shouted, backing up into a corner.

Sayaka frowned in concentration as she turned the motion of withdrawing her sword into another sweeping arc, bringing the blade around over her head as she crouched, spinning it low and diagonal. The approaching zombie, an unrecognizable student missing half its face, fell to the ground heavily. "Doing the best I can, here, thanks," she growled as the last one standing stumbled forward with eagerly clutching fingers. Breathing steadily, she raised the bokken and brought it almost straight down, angling it just a fraction as it connected with the creature's temple, cracking the cranium like an egg, revealing the grey-green yolk that lay inside in a liberal spray. Without thought, she followed through and brought the weapon down again, this time against the struggling figure she'd knocked to the floor, ending its feeble, limbless struggles as the head burst like an overripe fruit between her unstoppable sword and the immovable floor.

"THEY'RE ALMOST IN!" shouted a panicky Kyousuke, pointing at the small spiderwebbed cracks that had begun to appear beneath the monsters' smashing fists. Nakazawa shushed him nervously, drawing his long brown hair behind his ears and staring at Homura with silent appeal. _Do something!_

The raven-haired girl glanced around, trying to think. The thought of coming up with an idea terrified her; she'd seen what had happened to Masumi. She didn't want to be responsible for any of these people, least of all Kaname Madoka… but if no one else was there to look after the girl, then she would have to be the one to try. Making sure her glasses stayed put, she began dragging some of the few remaining desks to the back of the room, adjacent to the wall between their classroom, the final room before the double doors that Sayaka had appeared from.

There were too many in the hallway for the girl to handle; Homura could see it in the blunette's fearful eyes. _So she's not completely stupid, living out some shogun-era fantasy. She's being kind of… brave._

Breathing heavily, Sayaka shuffled slowly to the glass-walled corridor; then quickly fell back. Even though the walls were transparent, it felt reassuring to have something between her and _them_.

Ten, maybe a dozen of the monsters could be seen up and down the blood-spattered corridor, most concentrated right outside of her classroom. One empty room separated her from the others, and peering inside she decided nothing had happened in there. Taking a deep breath, she held it as she shimmied around the corner, walking several meters toward the zombies before reaching the door.

She didn't let out her breath until the door clicked shut behind her.

"Sayaka-chan, what are you doing?" Madoka felt like a lightning bolt of happiness had struck her, her tired, shattered mind reinvigorated with the realization that her friend not only wasn't dead, she was-

"I'm here to rescue you," the blunette replied behind the pane of glass, matter-of-fact. "Back up."

Madoka obeyed, running into Homura and the two boys as she stepped away. The three eyed the door to the hallway nervously, and a sharp, splintering sound of breaking glass accompanied by an abrupt increase in the volume of the moaning coming from outside the room made two of them jump in fright, possibly losing control of their bladders in a moment of forgivable terror.

A groaning roar came from the doorway, hands grasping through the broken glass, reaching through the makeshift barricade that sat atop the teacher's larger desk. The pile shifted, but held. Sayaka felt panic lend her an almost superhuman strength. She backed up, then lunged with all her might, the tip of her bokken focusing all of her force on a miniscule area of the glass-

_Thwunk_. Numbly, the blunette winced as her hands went numb. The glass held; a small crack radiating from the point of impact looking tiny and pathetic. _Another hundred or so of those and I'll be done_, she thought grimly. She heard them talking, panicked voices raised, and the pile of overturned desks fell away from the door under the press of what seemed like hundreds of grasping, blood-soaked arms clutching blindly, greedily inside-

Gritting her teeth, the blunette slammed her sword into the glass again. More cracks, sharp, shooting pains up the inside of her arms. Again. Again. Blinking furiously, she frantically flexed her hands, trying to ready herself for one more try.

Madoka caught her attention, waving with her entire body. Sayaka backed away, hoping whatever happened in the next several seconds would work as she saw the first of the ghoulish monsters from the hallway clamber into the room, falling off the sturdy desk as the rest began pushing in behind it.

Kyousuke and Nakazawa charged the wall, holding the legs of the desk like a battering ram. With a terrific crash they collided at a full run, the glass fracturing into jagged shards, a substantial portion of the wall shattering and falling away under the impact.

Hissing, Kyousuke grabbed his left hand, heart skipping a beat as he felt the blood pour liberally through his fingers. Looking down, he went pale as he saw the nasty gash running along the back of his hand. "Oh no," he said conversationally, thinking more than anything that _now was not the time_.

"You did it!" Madoka cheered, joining Homura as the black-haired girl began to kick away some of the most dangerous shards.

"We gotta go!" Nakazawa screamed, seeing the first zombie rise meters away, lurching forward. He ran to the newly-made exit, but noticed his friend hadn't moved. Then he saw the hand, and the growing spatter of blood at the boy's feet. "Damn, Kyousuke's hurt!" He grabbed the grey-haired boy by the arm, dragging him backwards forcefully, seeing a lunging, blood-stained former classmate reaching out, grabbing Kyousuke by the shoulder. Homura and Madoka were already through, and screamed a warning.

Sayaka, seeing the lone approaching zombie, had stepped through immediately when she heard that Kyousuke was injured. _Concerned, that's all. For my friend_. As the thing's hands closed in on her old friend, Sayaka slashed over both boys' heads, arcing down to catch the ghoulish creature square across the bridge of its nose. Nakazawa heard the descending weapon hum through the air over his head, but the bone-shattering crunch that punctuated the move was over by the time he managed to duck. Another attack for good measure once the creature's head was braced by the floor to ensure things, and Sayaka was anxiously pushing Nakazawa and Kyousuke out into the room closest to the exit.

"Sayaka-chan!" Madoka sobbed, hugging the life out of her friend. "Oh Sayaka-chan, I was so scared-"

"We're not out of this yet," Sayaka said, panting, glancing between the the hallway that was quickly emptying of zombies, and Kyousuke's bloody hand. Nakazawa and the new girl were tying something around it, tightly. She wanted to be the one helping him… but she was well aware that she was the only one with a sword, even a wooden practice one. The grey-haired boy was as white as a ghost, and superstitiously Sayaka tried to keep that particular thought from flickering through her mind. "Let's go," she said, stretching her aching arms. "Akemi-san," she nodded, happy to see another survivor.

"Miki-san. Thank you," Homura began, about to say something more and looking more earnest and emotional than Sayaka had ever seen.

"No problem," she interrupted, turning to give the hallway one last glance, feeling slightly embarrassed. Kyousuke had been staring at her strangely. _It's hardly my fault I look like this,_ she thought darkly. Most of the zombies had stumbled into the now-abandoned classroom; several had gotten to where Kyousuke had stood and bled all over the floor. They'd be inside this room within seconds. The hallway was almost clear, and as the blunette looked at a cluster of five or so that had remained near one of the classrooms by the opposite exit, that's when she saw him.

Sayaka felt a lump rise in her throat for some reason. She stared across the hallway, two rooms down, at the tall, brown haired boy who was sitting on top of a desk, staring back at her. The boy pointed toward the entrance, the scene of her fight, and made a clapping motion, with a genuine-looking smile. Then his face got serious and he pointed.

Glancing back, the blunette saw the first of the approaching monsters shamble to the hole in the wall. Kyousuke groaned weakly as Nakazawa and Homura supported him, while Madoka wrung her hands nervously. Sayaka opened the door, looking back down the hallway.

The boy stared back, mouth moving. She couldn't be certain, but she thought it was something like _Good luck_. The ghoulish figures that battered against the door and smashed their fists into the wall continued relentlessly as the classmates fled out the doorway, Madoka in the lead. The first of the horde of shambling figures stepped through the broken wall, followed immediately by others. Sayaka felt compelled to look back once more, but needed to get up ahead and so instead threw a half-hearted wave behind her and dashed onward, reaching the double doors before the pinkette.

Bracing herself, Sakaya kicked open the door, holding her bokken with both hands, at the ready.

* * *

><p>The tall boy backed away as his heart pounded painfully inside his chest. <em>Did she even recognize me?<em> he wondered. It had been a while, but Sayaka had been a classmate, back in middle school.

That had been pretty cool, at least. Seeing some of _them _get fucked up.

His eyes were drawn back to the cute girl from class 2C. She wasn't so cute anymore, banging tenaciously at the glass wall, the very wall he'd looked through to catch a glimpse of her as she sat down in the morning.

_Is that irony? _he wondered. He always got that one wrong, somehow.

_What a shitty morning._

For the twentieth time, he cast about the room for something, _anything_, that could be used in defense. _I should have left with everyone else,_ he thought, laughing at his own self-recrimination. _As if any of that matters now!_

Nothing. Everything was plastic, hollow, or a computer. Clenching his hands, he heard the glass begin to crack. A desk leg might do, but he hadn't been able to pry one off. Nervous fingers fumbled, picking up an assortment of pens and pencils that had been left in the panic. As the zombies tore through the glass along the wall, he had time to be grateful that, even if Sayaka hadn't recognized him, she'd at least waved back.

It made it seem less like he was dying alone. A little bit, at least.

Breathing fast, he backed away as the trio of ghouls shambled into the room, blood red eyes staring at him with monstrous hunger, not quite as philosophical about the prospect of imminent death now that it was so… _imminent_.

* * *

><p>The infirmary was a scene of quiet, tense fear bordering on outright panic. Students shuffled about nervously, the majority standing and trying to keep from breaking down or screaming. Most had seen something firsthand, the rest had heard the stories.<p>

As the door opened, Mami was confronted by dozens of tired, startled glances. Stepping to the side in order to let the other three enter, Mami heard a collective sigh as the group realized they were in no danger.

"Where's Nurse Joy?" Mami asked, and a half-dozen voices answered her. She went into the small chamber known by the nursing staff affectionately as the "quarantine room," a small area with cots where students with the flu, or pre-exam anxiety, could rest in comfort and not be forced to hear about the exact circumstances that resulted in some freshman's sprained ankle or bloody nose.

People in the crowd began to murmur, recognizing the semi-famous blonde athlete. Hurriedly, she continued through, Kaede close on her heels.

After a tense conversation with the nurse, Mami debated what to do. Joy didn't know anything about what was going on, other than there was some sort of epidemic that had shut down Tokyo and several other major population centers. The symptoms indicated an influenza mutation, but beyond that… certainly, there had been nothing about flesh-eating zombies-

Turning back to her charge, the nurse bent over the shivering girl, trying to wipe away some of the sweat with a sterile cloth. She wore latex gloves and a white surgical mask, although she was one of those people who would often find occasion to wear the thing over her face. Mami had worked with her for over a year now, volunteering her freshman year when she had an open period in the middle of the day.

Hitomi shoved her way through the crowd, amazed that nobody was talking to her. "Tomoe-san," she said sharply. "We need to-" Stopping, she glared through the doorway. "IS THAT GIRL _INFECTED_?" she demanded loudly, the murmurs of the crowd outside swelling into a concerned babble.

"SHH!" Mami tried, pulling the arm of the annoying underclassmen. "What are you trying to do, incite a panic?" Hitomi pulled her arm away angrily.

"We need to leave! It's not safe here!"

Mami looked back at Nurse Joy helplessly. Part of her considered it her duty to stay, help tend the sick and keep the rest from outright panic. But another part was already considering what she'd need to do next.

There were too many people in here. It was a powder keg waiting for a spark. And, if she was really honest with herself, Mami didn't like the looks of that sick girl. The sunken eyes, the grey pallor…

As if on cue, a wretched noise drew her attention. Drill-tails bouncing energetically as she spun in surprise, Mami watched the girl sit up in the bed, her eyes wide and afraid as a series of choking gasps issued from her. The nurse stepped back before approaching, trying to roll the girl on her side. "Tomoe-san, I need your assistance!"

Mami hesitated. Nurse Joy's lilac eyes stared at her, imploringly.

Suddenly, the choking noises stopped, and the girl turned her head to vomit explosively, a dark red torrent erupting from her mouth, spraying a surprising amount all over her bed and the nurse. Screaming, Joy fell backward, covered in the bloody vomit.

The outer area erupted in screaming.

The girl, spent, fell back limply, her eyes closed and chest rising and falling rapidly. Wiping at her eyes in panic, Nurse Joy stumbled across the room, Mami dodging out of her way, wanting more than anything to avoid whatever the hell was dripping off the woman. As she appeared to the crowded students, the screaming increased, and people began to flee out the door, back into the school.

Mami looked around and found Hitomi, grabbing the frightened girl by the arm. "You're right, it's time to go!" Knowing full well the value of the medicines held in the infirmary, Mami cast about, searching. She grabbed a first-aid kit, opening it to make sure it wasn't empty, and then turned to addressed the remnant of panicked students. "If you want, follow me! We need to-"

Cursing, she saw the figure lurch through the doorway, the bloody-mouthed girl reaching out to grab a nearby student, leaning into his neck as if to kiss-

"RUN!" the blonde cried, mop-turned-staff in one hand, medical kit in the other.

The hallway was flooded with the walking dead, drawn by the panicked mob that had fled screaming. Dodging out of the way of a lumbering brute with arms as thick as her legs, the blonde backpedaled, bumping into something. She thrust the kit behind her, hoping Kaede would have the presence of mind to pick it up as she aimed for the monster's eye-socket with the splintered end of her staff.

As the body fell, Mami saw a flash of green dart by. "Hitomi!" she called, worried that the girl had panicked, but could only watch as the slender figure wove her way through the struggling mass before turning the corner. "Let's go!" she cried, dashing forward through the melee.

Nightmarish images flashed across her field of vision, grasping, clawing hands grabbing and pinning, ripping and rending flesh and bone and digging into bellies and necks, the wet red of muscle and tissue and the hideous shapes of organs being lifted and torn and bitten and chewed, and blood, so much blood, pouring down from mouths and out of wounds and pooling, everywhere spilling until the entire hallway was drowning in it. The smell was overpowering, blood and excrement and the faint whiff of rotting meat.

Gasping for breath, she turned the corner Hitomi had taken, only to see the green-haired girl claw frantically at the floor, trying to pull away from the undead hand around her ankle. "HELP ME!" she screamed, seeing the familiar face of the blonde come into view. She glanced back, terror gripping her heart with painful force as she saw the thing drag itself up to her, and the approaching figures that had seemed to have been waiting for her near the exit. _It's not fair!_

Then, the hand let go, and she was dragged roughly to her feet. "Stay with us, if you want help in the future," the blonde warned, hustling back towards the two figures who stood waiting, poised to flee as the monsters continued to advance.

Frowning, Mami stared at the door with a trace of sullen anger. So close… but they wouldn't be getting out of this hellish building by _this_ particular exit. Sighing, she came to the only conclusion she could. "We have to go back up."

"What? That's where we-"

"No time, there are too many." Mami eyed both directions, and the others understood all too well. Frowning as they moved toward the stairwell, the blonde stared at a young-faced freshman with thumbs hooked under her backpack straps, wondering where she came from. "Who are you?" Now was not the time for civility.

"Mazushii-san," Hitomi said with a sneer. The girl, Mazushii, blushed and hung her head, but her straight bangs revealed her face through the cascade of long brown hair.

"Where's Saotome-sensei?" Mami asked suddenly, looking around. Kaede shrugged, holding up the first-aid kit as if in justification for her ignorance.

"She was…" Mazushii stopped, swallowing. After a moment, Mami placed a hand on her shoulder and guided her toward the stairwell. The girl looked up, her brown eyes brimming with plaintive hope. "C-can I come with you?"

"Of course," Mami replied, unable to keep the disappointment out of her voice. She'd really been counting on the woman. Or at least her car. With a last, regretful glance down the hallway, unable to see any sign of the woman, Mami darted into the stairwell, closing the door shut behind her.

* * *

><p><strong>Thanks to those of you who've reviewed. All ideas appreciated. If you have strong thoughts on the issue, let me know what kind of weapons you'd equip a bunch of Japanese high school girls with.<strong>


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Timing is Everything

"Where are we going?" Madoka asked, trailing behind the blunette who led the small, bedraggled group. There had only been one of the monsters beyond the double doors, but the others were probably still pursuing them. They'd ran down on hallway, across a corridor, and had stopped at the drinking fountains to catch their breath.

"I was… kinda… hoping… you'd have… a plan," the blunette grinned through gasping breaths. Forcing herself to inhale slowly and deeply, Sayaka reflexively wiped her forehead with the back of her sleeve. Unfortunately, the blood-drenched cloth did little to alleviate the uncomfortable sheen of sweat, and she panicked as her left eye started to sting.

"Ugh! It's getting in my eyes!" she hissed frantically, the thought of blinking in blood disgusting and frightening at the same time. "Gah!" _Infected_ blood. Her knuckles were skinned, and numerous cuts and scrapes already adorned her arms and legs, but the mental image of getting it in her eye was somehow much creepier.

Luckily, Madoka was right behind her. As her best friend had reeled back in distress, she'd understood and put a gentle hand on the blunette's shoulder, supporting her while wiping away at her eyes with a freshly washed sleeve, softly making _shush_ing noises. Sayaka sheepishly froze in place, resisting the urge to open her eyes as the pinkette continued to rub away the worst of the filth.

"What's wrong?" Nakazawa whispered, out of breath from supporting the stumbling boy at his side. Homura watched, following behind a pace, ready to catch Kyousuke if he should fall. Which is exactly what it looked like he was about to do, pale-faced and swaying on his feet.

"Sayaka-chan is a mess," Madoka replied, keeping her voice down without having to resort to whispering. "I don't think it's safe, being covered in… b-blood," she gulped. "Like that." The only good thing about her friend's appearance was that none of the blood seemed to be her own. The blunette could only agree, feeling wretched underneath the coating of bodily fluids. Her arms were blood-red, literally, right up past the elbows. Her left side was drenched in it, and she was pretty certain there was some in her hair… she hadn't had the courage to examine it, and since it was plastered away from her face, it suited her fine for the moment. "We need to get our stuff, from our lockers."

It was the only place Sayaka was fairly certain was clear, having been here a short time ago. She agreed with a nod, thinking of her backpack and the rest of the contents of her duffel bag, and Akemi Homura was awfully quick to support the notion, obviously eager to retrieve something as well.

The thought of some clean clothes was more than welcome, banishing the disgust she felt regarding her blood-stained attire. Except when she thought about how she must look, and how Kyousuke would remember her. Or Madoka, for that matter. Looking like some kind of… mass murderer. "Thanks, Madoka-chan," she breathed, feeling the girl give her shoulder a gentle pat. She opened her eyes, relieved temporarily despite seeing her friends disgusted expression as she wiped her hand against the wall, leaving a smear of crimson so dark it was nearly brown. Immediately, the swordswoman began glancing around, poking her head into the "T" intersection, one hallway leading toward the cafeteria and commons area, the other towards their lockers and the stairway to the gymnasium downstairs.

Sayaka made a quick gesture, creeping down the hallway on the balls of her feet, feeling like a spring compressed and ready to be sprung any which way. She tried the slow breathing again, but the sense of anxiety continued to plague her as she stealthily made her way to the end of the corridor.

_Technically, I probably am a mass murderer. Those things that I've been smashing to death, eight, to be exact, not that I was counting, but hey it's not like that's something I'm going to forget soon… they were people, at least an hour ago. I'm not sure how this is going to be interpreted by the police._ It hadn't crossed her mind that this was anything but a finite, local occurrence that left the rest of the outside world unscathed. "Do you think killing those _zombies_," she emphasized with both her eyes and voice, "is, like, murder?"

"Technically, yes." Homura's answer took both friends by surprise, the slender transfer student looking up from rubbing her shoulder. "Well, _technically_, mass murder." She shrugged, pushing her glasses back up her nose. "I don't think there's a separate statute regarding the possibility of reanimated corpses. Your obvious defense, of course, is _self-defense_. Although you'd have a difficult time convincing a judge that an unarmed civilian posed a deadly threat without introducing evidence about the creatures being, essentially, zombies, and of course the government would never allow that to happen."

Sayaka looked at the black-haired girl blankly. Nakazawa interrupted the staring contest. "Uh, guys, I mean girls, or… um, isn't this a bad time? Ladies?" He glanced around meaningfully, then nodded his head at Kyousuke.

The boy was as white as a sheet. "Kyousuke-kun, can you keep going?" Sayaka asked, approaching him for the first time, all too aware of her blood-spattered appearance. The grey-haired boy swayed and instinctively she reached out to grab his shoulder. His far-away gaze came into focus on the messy blunette.

"Sayaka-chan, it _is _you," he murmured woozily. Sayaka glanced at the other three in concern. He wobbled a bit. "Yes, yes we can go. But… we have to go back. Something's missing."

She patted him on the shoulder gently. "We'll find it," she lied, and he smiled, reassured.

They crept forward silently, and a few tense minutes and false scares later, they came to the hallway with their lockers.

Nakazawa stood guard near the corner, watching for anything entering the "L" shaped intersection. Periodically, he found himself glancing back at the glowing red Exit sign shining like a beacon further along down the hallway.

Lockers were quickly ransacked, Homura coming away with a worn backpack and wearing a set of sport glasses with a ridiculous strap running behind her head. Feeling self-conscious of wearing what she essentially considered Phy Ed equipment, Homura turned to relieve Nakazawa, taking up vigil at the hallway intersection.

Sayaka stripped off her blouse without concern for modesty, eager to get the filthy thing off. She noticed her bra was stained as well, but there was only so far she was willing to go in the name of cleanliness. She grabbed two extra shirts from her equipment bag, using one to rub down her face and hair to get the worst of the damp unpleasantness out before slipping into the other. Unfortunately, they were unwashed, and the shirts both smelled a little ripe, but it was better than nothing. _Probably smell like blood and crap soon anyway._ That was a startling revelation: blood, in enough quantity, smelled. It was a metallic scent, reminding her of the taste of water from old pipes, or maybe copper.

Then she began drawing out the pieces of her _bogu_. The kendo practice armor came in four parts; the _men_, a helmet with a hard mesh front and shoulder protectors, the mitten-like gloves called _kote _that covered her hands and forearms, the chest piece made of rigid plastic, and the leg and groin protection.

She was tempted, but ultimately just picked up the gloves. Her hands were raw, and she figured if she was going to go down swinging, some added protection for her forearms might come in handy. Chuckling at her own pun, she tried to think of a way to use it before it was forgotten.

Madoka was busy stuffing books and things in her backpack. "Madoka-chan," Sayaka began, waiting to finish until the pinkette looked up briefly. The blunette raised her gauntleted fists. "These might come in handy." She waited, but Madoka just smiled a little, nodding before returning to cramming the entire contents of her locker into the pink cat-themed backpack. Sighing in disappointment, the blunette approached her friend. "Hey, you don't really need all that stuff, Madok-"

"But these books are _expensive_, Sayaka-chan! And I need my things. I can't leave Mr. Binky or Pickles or any of the rest here, I just can't!" She tried to convey her feelings to the taller girl with a meaningful, desperate look.

Nakazawa popped his head around the corner, and his eyes went wide. "Whoa, you have a suit of armor?!" he asked, shocked. Sayaka sighed.

"Help yourself, but think about this: we've been running for most of the past ten minutes. As long as we're not trapped inside of some room again, we'll probably be running until we get clear of this hell-hole." She'd _always _called the school that, and saying it again was almost like saying_ I-told-you-so_ to the universe, for all the good that did any of them. "Probably not worth the extra weight."

"Sayaka-chan," Nakazawa began, his eyes focused on the pieces of her armor. Something about the wild, ichor-stained blue hair, coupled with the remnant smudges of red around her face, made it hard for him to look right at her. Amazed at what he'd seen in the hallway, and more than a little afraid of the crazy blue murder-eyes and that ferocious expression his classmate had worn, the boy had to swallow his unease. "You _have _to put that on."

"Nakazawa-kun, I just told you-"

He bent over, hefting a piece. "It hardly weighs anything! You've been bashing heads, and even though all _I've _done is see people get ripped apart, _I've seen people get ripped apart._ That armor, that helmet… that's exactly what you need. They keep biting people! The neck, the shoulder, the face… it doesn't matter."

Sayaka frowned, considering. "The peripheral vision is restricted by the helmet. I dunno…"

Nakazawa looked up, finally. The blunette couldn't help but feel awkward under his strange, intense expression. "We can help. The least we can do is watch out for trouble. We have plenty of eyes. What we need is someone who can kick ass and won't get eaten." He looked at her, seeming to dare her to find fault with his argument. "I'd probably fall down flat on my face, if I tried wearing it. You know how to move in it, you've _practiced_ in it. You should wear it."

She shrugged, then began strapping the armor on, leaving behind the thick leggings that were the most restrictive part of the outfit, at least in terms of movement. "Well, if it slows me down I hope you don't leave me behind," she joked.

Nakazawa turned away. "I don't think any of us would even _consider _leaving you behind, Sayaka-chan."

_If she's taking her armor, I'm taking Mr. Binky!_ Madoka thought fiercely, looking at the pile of expensive, glossy-paged textbooks lying on the floor of her locker with regret as she zipped up the backpack, fuzzy companions safely inside, along with the bento box she'd brought for lunch and her purse.

Homura had barely gotten Kyousuke back on his feet when she heard the noise. Glancing at Nakazawa, she looked back down the hallway.

* * *

><p>Screams in the distance drew the blonde's attention. Something about the plaintive, desperate cries were impossible to ignore. Each time she heard that hideous sound of someone calling out hopelessly for help, terrified and alone… it tugged at her. She wanted to help, she didn't want anyone to suffer this fate, so much more terrible than mere death. She wanted to save them.<p>

A flood of the living dead flowed through the lower level of Mitakihara High, a river of shattered, bloodied, lurching figures that stumbled toward the door to the stairs, death approaching from three directions.

She wanted to save them. But she couldn't.

Steeling herself, Mami slammed the door shut, turning her back on the hapless victim and focusing on the immediate concern of escape. She turned toward the stairs, seeing the feet of one of the girls disappearing around the corner. Blinking tears from her eyes, Mami took a series of deep breaths, flooding her body with oxygen as she raced up the stairs behind the three others.

Behind her, the doorway burst open, the shambling horde moaning with unholy harmony, an unending, ever-changing, discordant symphony of doom echoing up the stairwell..

"RUUUN!" she screamed, glancing back to watch the hideous wave of inhumanity wash up against the staircase, the figures clambering over one another in a frenzied attempt to claw their way up, driven by the unquenchable craving for succulent, living flesh.

* * *

><p>Sayaka, Madoka, Homura and Nakazawa stared down the hallway with extreme trepidation. "Perhaps we should go-" Homura started to say, and then the doors leading toward the cafeteria swung open, revealing a pack of figures that shuffled into the room, limbs moving jerkily, heads lolling, aimless.<p>

Carefully, the four stepped back. Sayaka motioned in the direction they'd come, thinking of a stairwell that led almost directly to the infirmary. Maybe that would prove to be a safe place, some kind of respite from the ever-present danger these unpredictable, roaming monsters posed. At the very least, it was close to one of the main exits. Earlier, looking down between the glass partitions, they'd seen numerous things moving around, running, shuffling, wrestling on the ground… but it was possible they'd moved on.

Homura bent down, unconsciously reaching up to keep her glasses in place. Smiling, she realized she didn't need to worry about _that _annoying problem anymore. She'd always wondered what would happen if this kind of apocalyptic, extinction-level event ever played out. She had strong suspicions that secret government agencies were, even now, working to bury the truth and put a proverbial lid on the whole fiasco. Maybe another 'nuclear reactor meltdown', since she'd read on the forums that the government had used that particular ploy to good effect in the past.

One thing she didn't have to worry about was looking fashionable. Or even normal. She glanced unconsciously at the fully-armored blunette, who obviously felt the same way.

"Akemi-san?" Blinking, she dropped her hand, hooking her arm underneath Kyousuke's. Silently, she and the long-haired boy from the front row, Nakazawa, picked up the violinist. The boy's face was pale, almost ashen… he looked dead to Homura, but she had to admit that his greyish hair and slender physique didn't give him a feeling of robust vitality in the first place.

Still, circumspectly, she held two fingers to his neck, trying to feel the pulse-

"Hey," Nakazawa whispered, looking disapproving. "What are you-"

Kyousuke moaned.

Down the hallway, the low hum of the creatures went silent. The shuffling of feet stopped.

Sayaka looked at the others nervously. Frantically, she began waving them down the hallway, but Homura had panicked at the sound of the moan, her fingers unable to instantly find a steady beat and uncomfortably close to the boy's mouth. _If he is still a boy_.

From down the hallway, something horrible let out a terrible wail. Instantly, it had become a choir of hellish noise. "Go!" Sayaka roared, stepping past the others and positioning herself in the rear, hoping that they'd get to the door in time-

Grunting as he found himself suddenly supporting all of Kyousuke's weight, Nakazawa picked the boy up, cradling the weakly struggling figure in both arms as he stumbled forward. Homura felt no loyalty towards either boy, not to mention interest, but the shocked look of the pinkette was enough to send her back, ready to support if possible.

"Sayaka-chan, should I-" Madoka began, before the first of the monsters became visible around the corner. The stairwell was twenty meters back, and she'd retreated perhaps five. Kyousuke was still just ahead of her, Nakazawa struggling to carry the burden.

_Come on, he's not that heavy_, Sayaka thought, afraid and dismayed both. The lurching gait of the large creature was too fast, almost a run. "Madoka, get to the stairs!" _Much_ faster than those she'd fought before. Within seconds, a half-dozen figures came into view as they rounded the corner, faces twisted masks of gnashing teeth and blood-drenched mouths, their hands dark with their messy feast. Several bore terrible wounds, gaping tears into their flesh revealing tendon and bone through the rotting meat.

They wore crimson-stained uniforms, the maintenance personnel, Sayaka realized. Continuing to back up, she stumbled into Nakazawa, who cursed loudly. "Sorry," she yelled, panting as the creatures closed the distance, swiftly shambling across the hallway.

_Shit. Fuck._ Through the helmet's wire-mesh faceguard, Sayaka watched as the first of the creatures came at her, the whites of its eyes blood-red and the dripping, gore-stained face square and vaguely familiar… with a strange sense of inevitability, she looked more closely, noting the missing limb, and the large ring of keys jangling at his belt. At _its _belt. Because it was not Hokannin-san, not anymore.

_Always wanted to do this,_ she thought, and the shaky hands and rapid breathing vanished as intention became action and once again she was flowing through the form, advancing with a single step as she twisted her torso, the momentum working in tandem with her swinging arms as the bokken sliced through the air, humming right up until the point of impact, punctuated by a wet crunch.

Her longtime nemesis, second only to Vice Principal Tetsuo, crumpled, falling like a sack of rice. She skipped backwards, noting the others were very close to the door now, but the remaining monsters were uncomfortably close, a tight-knit pack that would be impossible to deal with one at a time.

Madoka got to the stairwell, feeling amazingly calm and collected with the knowledge that her friends lives depending on her actions. Carefully, she pulled open the door a crack, hiding behind it but listening for anything.

The rapid patter of steps, very loud and _very _close. And, unmistakably, the loud, demanding moans of dozens and dozens of the hungry dead. _Oh no._

Gingerly, she closed the door. "Sayaka-chan," she called, "there's zombies in there, lots!"

_Godammit all to hell! _raged the blunette, feeling their options diminishing by the second. Homura approached the door, and was bowled over by several running figures flew out.

"Hitomi-chan!" Madoka screamed, excited to see her friend and terrified of being eaten and feeling a little nauseous at the moment. "Mazushii-chan?" Her stomach had an unpleasant, liquidy feeling as she saw the other two girls dashing up the stairwell, the brown-pigtailed Kaede from class and, of all people-

"Mami-san!" she cried, and Homura looked up from the floor. She saw, through the door that had been swung wide, the busty blonde bounce her way up the last half-flight of stairs, saw the brown-haired, pigtailed girl trip. She watched as the first shadowy figure emerged from below, grasping, dripping hands clutching at the girl's leg-

"Watch out!" the raven-haired girl cried, pointing helplessly-

Another arm appeared, fingers clenching around the girl's pigtail, and Kaede began screaming shrilly as she was yanked backward-

Sayaka, determined to buy her friends as much time as she could, found herself feeling exceptionally fatalistic all of a sudden, lunging right at the group. There was a commotion behind her, but her pulse pounded in her ears as she dealt with the immediate threat before her. She jabbed one right through the eye, darting backward before the clutching fingers could grab hold. Armor or not, she doubted anyone would escape the grip of several of the infernally strong monsters.

Madoka's grin of amazed relief became a grimace of horror, seeing the friendly brown-haired girl from class fall backwards, behind the welcome sight of Mami. The blonde saw her look and turned back in dismay, the younger girl had been out of breath, but they'd had to keep running-

"Help me!" Kaede found her breath as her legs were grabbed, yanked, and white hot pain lanced through her thigh, then her calves. "Mami!" Screaming, she felt each tendon shred as human teeth bit deep into the back of her legs, hamstringing her while filthy, slimy, wet fingers dug into her flesh. "AAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

Mami took a step down, the ascending horde momentarily preoccupied and paying her no heed. Madoka screamed, "No! Mami, no!"

Frozen, the blonde could only stare at those accusing, pain-filled eyes as the girl's screams increased an octave. Horrified, she saw the eyes bulge, the zombies greedily fighting over the still-living meal, her legs pulled in opposite directions until a horrible wet SNAP-

Homura grabbed the blonde by her hair and dragged her backwards, kicking the door shut behind her. The sight of that girl, a classmate whose name she couldn't quite remember, being split apart like a wishbone, the copious amounts of blood that spurted out of the horrendous wounds, snapped bone poking straight through skin as the girl's leg, mercifully, went silent. Turning, she vomited loudly, her meager breakfast spilling across the tiles, maintaining her grip not to pull but for support. Hitomi was screaming and the plain, brown-haired girl from class was shaking with fright, looking between the doorway and the approaching monsters.

Mami snarled, wrenching free from the clutches of the smaller, slighter transfer student, who staggered back. "What the hell are you doing, Akemi-san?" she choked, trying to swallow the lump in her throat.

"She's dead," Madoka said quietly, pointing down the hallway. "Sayaka-chan's not, though, and she needs your help!" She'd seen the bloodstained, makeshift spear or staff the girl held, and besides, as one of her closest friends, Madoka knew all about the Olympic hopeful.

Mami blinked, berating herself for even taking that long as she rushed headlong down the hallway.

Two corpses were laid out on the ground before Sayaka felt one of the ghoulish talons close around her arm. She tried to squirm free, but the grip was unbreakable, like she was being held by a metal statue. Desperately, she tried to transfer her sword to her left hand, but it fell to the floor with a clatter as more of the creatures bore down on her. Pinned beneath multiple bodies, Sayaka tried to make it as hard as possible to get a bite in, thrashing about madly. She felt one try to take a chunk out of her forearm, the thick gauntlets pinching her painfully. A hideous, bloodstained maw yawned open like the pit of doom, its torn and flayed tongue dripping a slow string of viscous red goo that hung from snarling lips as it descended. Unable to twist away, she couldn't keep her eyes from shutting tightly as the thing bit at her face, feeling the shock and hearing the grating as teeth bit at her mask, centimeters away from her flesh, fragments raining down on her left cheek as enamel shattered against the tough metal protector. With a burst of desperate energy, she tried to head-butt the thing, but couldn't get any leverage. Blinking back tears, she readied herself for one final, last-ditch attempt to escape-

Mami ran up to the nearest figure that crouched atop her kohai, jabbing out with her sharp stick at the temple and pulling back before thrusting it out again, catching a zombie in the sternum and knocking it back. "Sayaka-chan!" she cried, using her staff to push another of the creatures off the prone blunette. She watched the girl lash out at one of her remaining attackers with an armored fist, smashing it's teeth and nose in, and smiled. It was a fierce smile, mid-strike against the last of the creatures on top of the scrabbling, armored figure, knocking it back and then stabbing down, thrusting with both hands until she found the eye.

Sayaka, gasping and sweating and no longer needing to pee, wrestled herself away from the disoriented zombie she'd punched in the face, rolling across the hallway to grab her fallen sword. Another of the things recovered from Mami's assault and lunged toward her with impressive speed. Still prone, she spun the sword low to the ground, catching the nameless custodian in the ankle. It fell, crashing right on top of her.

Mami shot a glance behind her, seeing the flash of motion and then watching one of the things fall to the ground. With a quick step, she used the broken mop-handle as a lever, hoisting the zombie off the blunette as she dashed backwards. Sayaka picked herself up from the ground, and Mami stabbed repeatedly at the fallen thing, unable to stop its struggles.

On her feet, Sayaka threw herself forward, slamming the tip of her sword into the thing's face, pushing it back to create some distance before pulling back and sweeping the wooden blade down in an overhead slice, fully aware that Mami stood not a meter away, trying to end the other one before it could get up.

Madoka and Homura watched, the black-haired girl fiddling with her backpack nervously until the corpses were again corpses, unmoving and starting to stink. Hitomi was red-faced and in tears, bent over Kyousuke, exchanging angry words with Nakazawa while Mazushii darted forward as soon as the battle was over, eager to be away from the door.

"No time for greetings, we need to run!" Mami said urgently, and every single exhausted, emotionally drained body managed to pick itself up and hustle down the hallway. Before they were halfway to the corner, the first of the ghoulish forms shambled out of the stairwell, red and wet with fresh blood, turning in their direction as first three, then eight, then more, and more zombies began to pour out through the door.

Turning the corner, a lone undead stood in their way, dropping quickly to Mami's spear thrust, and finished off by the descending bokken. Reaching the door, the two shared a glance, and turned to face the others.

Sayaka waited for Mami to take charge, but the silence stretched for a long moment. Turning, she was puzzled by the look the older girl was giving her, almost expectant.

"Well?" Hitomi asked, glancing behind her nervously.

"Mami-san?"

"You've done well for yourselves, kohai." The blonde smiled warmly, the blood spattering her face reminiscent of some tribal warpaint. Someone made an impatient noise, and she looked at the group. "Nakazawa-san and Akemi-san… and Mazushii-san, you three keep Kamijou-san moving. There's no telling what is on the other side of these doors," she whispered, giving Madoka a severe case of the creeps. "Sayaka-chan and I will be up front, clearing a path. Shizuki-san, Madoka-chan, please follow behind the others; your job is to let us know if anything is happening. _Anything_." She stared at the green-haired girl, trying to make clear her expectations. As she turned to Madoka, she couldn't help grinning proudly at the brave face the girl was putting on.

She turned to the door, the moans beginning to reverberate throughout the corridor, the sound of shuffling feet getting closer. "Whatever happens, follow us. We'll try to go straight though; there's a ladder with access to the roof in the old equipment room, it's just on the other side of-"

Opening the door, her whisper died in her throat. A small glass walkway connected the corridor with the cafeteria, and the scene before her was beyond nightmarish.

_Oh god._

_Shit._

_Really? Really?!_

_I knew she'd get me killed!_

_No…_

_How can we possibly…_

_So many_. Mami's thought, like everyone else's, was tinged with a strong shade of hopelessness. But choice was suddenly taken out of the equation as the first of the stairwell zombies turned the corner behind them, their moans growing more agitated as they came into sight.

The cafeteria was a large room, one glass wall abutting the gymnasium, allowing students to watch the victories and failures of the freshmen class, who invariably were given the midday Phy Ed slot. Sayaka had adjusted to it quickly, but Madoka was still mortified whenever she'd toss up a ball and fail to connect with rim, net or backboard entirely, and not just from the sense of failure. Mostly, it was the ensuing cheers of the seniors who watched from above that she couldn't stand.

Unlike the uncomfortable, hard-seated, folding rectangle tables they'd sat at back during junior high, ten to a row, the excessive demands of Mitakihara High and the increasing responsibility each student was burdened with as they approached adulthood was rewarded with more adult-like seating. Circular tables by the dozen were staggered in rows throughout the room, each seating six to eight, depending on how close of friends you were. Many of them were overturned, and fallen chairs littered the floor. The room had no outside-facing walls, which seemed odd to Sayaka, but explained why so many students enjoyed sneaking away to the roof during break.

They entered towards the middle of the room; the kitchen and serving area to their left, and several rows of tables to their right. The place was filled with shuffling, blood-stained dead, and the sound of a scuffle in the kitchen turned into a loud crashing of falling cookware. Everyone winced, and Mami let Sayaka take the lead as they stepped into the room, tense and alert.

Sayaka, glancing at towards the kitchen area, saw motion behind the partition separating the cooks from the cafeteria workers. Glancing around, she noticed many of the zombies among the tables had turned, slowly but intently moving toward the kitchen. There had to be thirty of the things, but most continued lurching aimlessly through the room. So far, none appeared to have noticed them. That just left the ones coming up from behind…

Clenching her bokken tightly for a moment before relaxing into the supple grip of a swordswoman, Sayaka advanced swiftly. Instead of trying to find a clear path, she found a relatively clear path with isolated zombies. She crept up behind a swaying, blood-stained figure with a good-sized tear across it's throat, the cafeteria uniform nearly unrecognizable.

_Crack_. Even as the thing was falling, she continued on, the next one turning at the sound.

Mami kept her eyes moving, watching the sides and what lay ahead of them. She noticed the zombie turn towards them with a flash of trepidation, fearing what would happen if-

The creature let out a sharp moan just as Sayaka swung, the crunching of bone not silencing the sound quickly enough. Worried, Mami's eyes darted around, watching as several of the things around them slowly turn toward the sound. She held her breath.

Another moan, and another. The chorus was taken up and suddenly the aimless shuffling became a purposeful shambling, the creatures beginning to converge.

"Get ready to run!" whispered Sayaka fiercely, adjusting her grip, ready to break through to the left, towards the kitchen.

A metallic cacophony from that direction startled her; the sound of pots and pans and god knows what hitting the floor of the kitchen, rattling for long seconds before it ended. When it did, the zombies had already turned and begun walking towards the kitchen.

Sayaka heard the panicked whine as the young man burst out of the kitchen, fleeing several pursuers in hairnets and blood-spattered aprons. She rushed forward, cracking the skull of another of the creatures from behind. "Hey, over here!" she called, instinctively offering help to the panicked runner.

"What are you doing?!" Hitomi shout-whispered, dismayed at the noise. She looked around, imagining hungry, crimson-edged eyes turning back, looking at her like meat-

The short, pudgy form of the young man kept going, unwilling or unable to respond. Sayaka opened her mouth again, but Mami tapped her on the shoulder, shaking her head. _Too many,_ she mouthed sadly. Downcast, the blunette closed her mouth, advancing up behind the next of the slowly lumbering monsters.

Tired, the runner got tripped up on some fallen chairs, turning the stumble into a series of hops from which he tried, and failed, to recover his balance. Crashing to the ground, his whimper was audible halfway across the room, a wounded, exhausted sob. "Help," he mouthed silently, trying to regain his breath.

The ghoulish cafeteria workers had stopped pouring out of the kitchen, adding their numbers to the already crowded dining area. The man, halfway across the room, was making panicky, almost squealing screams as he struggled for breath, rising and stumbling and rising again, glancing around frantically at the approaching creatures coming at him from every direction.

Madoka, horrified, wrenched her gaze away from the looming tragedy, watching a group break off from the rest, approaching them from behind and to the right as they made their way to the kitchen. "Psst!" Madoka pointed, and Mami's eyes picked out the threat.

"Go over the counter," Homura offered, hoping that whatever had been lurking in the kitchen had followed the guy who'd provided them with exactly the distraction they'd needed. She tried not to think to hard about him as he began screaming, the first of the ghastly figures reaching down-

Sayaka latched onto the idea in an instant. "Go!" she whispered fiercely, nodding to Mami. The blonde took off, deftly climbing over the waist-high partition and spinning around with her makeshift staff, ready for anything. A kitchen's worth of pots and pans and metal trays littered the floor, but aside from that, and the blood, nothing jumped out at her.

She waved the rest in. Sayaka slid across last, giving Kyousuke a gentle but firm shove across the metal counter before climbing up herself.

The eight or so monsters that followed continued forward.

"We need to get out through the door in the other room, I don't know if this place has any other access points, and don't want to risk getting trapped in a storage room." Mami crept along the wall separating the kitchen from the supply area, peeking around the corner.

"Grab something, anything you can," urged Sayaka, looking around and seeing cookware and utensils, searching for the gleam of a sharp knife. Madoka found several long, triangular blades beneath the counter, and Hitomi picked up an iron skillet, hefting it with both arms. Nakazawa, looking around, accepted a knife from Madoka, sliding it into his belt before pointing out something underneath the industrial-sized range.

Homura leaned down, unfastening the plastic clips that held the half-sized fire extinguisher. She quickly familiarized herself with the trigger mechanism, and tried to decide if she should swing it like a bat or try and smash things with the metal cylinder's base.

"Gotta go," Sayaka whispered, nodding to Madoka and smiling as the girl stuffed several sharp objects into her backpack before zipping it up. Crouched, the group made their way around the scattered pots and pans, hearing something bang into the counter behind them, hard. The slamming continued, growing more insistent.

Looking out from behind the doorway, Mami and Sayaka surveyed the scene. Most of the monsters were bunched up in the middle of the room, piling around the fallen man. To their left, three scattered zombies lurched between overturned tables and scattered chairs. Mami was more worried about twisting an ankle than anything. "We'll have to be careful," she warned, motioning for the others to follow her.

"No. NO! N-"

Hearts freezing, the group looked as one back at the figure of Kyousuke, thrashing limply in Nakazawa's arms. Homura, wide-eyed, had her hand clamped over the boy's mouth, muffling the protests.

The kitchen erupted in sound as something kicked around the metal cookware littering the floor, the sound echoing harshly. "Let's move!" Mami whispered, stepping out and looking back to see several shapes disappear, crawling over the counter she herself had. "Hurry!" She walked out to flank the first of the three zombies between them and the doorway out.

Madoka, clutching a long knife with both hands, felt her heart beat painfully in her chest as the lurching figures began to stumble out of the cooking area, staring at her with hungry eyes as she slowly backed away. "They're coming!" she whispered, looking at Hitomi's panicked expression and wondering if her own matched.

Mami glanced around, hopeful of their chances._ Unless... If that hallway isn't clear..._

Forcing the thought from her mind, the blonde frowned, hearing the wet, tearing sounds coming from the dining area, the subdued grinding of metal across tile as something slid across the kitchen behind them. With crystal clarity, she heard the footsteps behind her, Nakazawa's grunt and Hitomi's rapid breathing and Mazushii's tiny whimper and Kyousuke's muffled moan.

The hum of the immense refrigerator and walk-in freezer, the gentle flow of air through the vents, the far off thrum from the boiler room, all of the infinitesimal sounds that blend together, unnoticed due to their constant presence... everything suddenly had stopped. Mami looked around, feeling something was very wrong.

And then, the lights went out.

* * *

><p><strong>Happy Valentine's Day if you're into that kind of thing.<strong>

**Thanks so much to all who've shown interest; even if you end up hating me by the end, which you will if I do my job right, know that your comments are my inspiration.**

**StormFarron185, Faust91x, RacheltheBooksandAnimeGeek, kyosayalove, Kurio-Yasha, I greatly appreciate your thoughts and suggestions, and am particularly thrilled when your ideas mesh so well with my own. Also, when they bring up something I haven't considered but that would make a brilliant addition. Many thanks.**

**And knowing I made someone lose their appetite while reading this… not sure what can top that.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

_**Much worse than it seems**_

In the utter darkness, the sounds of the wet, horrible chewing were punctuated by the crack of bone. Everyone stopped, silent, the maze of overturned tables and chairs even more ominous now that the obstacles could not be seen.

A long, gurgling moan drowned out the other noise. "Shit!" Sayaka whispered, finding it suddenly hard to catch her breath as her heart went into overdrive, the noise seeming to come from right behind her. One second she'd been creeping up to one of the scattered monstrosities that roamed the cafeteria, and then everything had gone dark. She spun around, testing the blackness with her bokken but failing to connect with anything solid. She'd been careful to do an exact half turn, conscious of what a disaster it would be to lose her bearings in the total dark.

Feeling the blood pounding in her head, booming in her ears, she heard someone, Hitomi, stutter shrilly. "_W-what is g-g-going on_?!"

"Shh!" Mami hissed into the darkness, trying to get a sense of where the closest _thing _was. She heard a clatter, the metallic legs of fallen chairs being pushed against one another, ahead and off to the side. "Get to the wall," she ordered, quietly but forceful. "Just follow-"

"I can't see! I don't know where to go!"

"Follow… my voice… *huff*..." Nakazawa panted, desperately trying to control the ragged breaths he couldn't seem to catch. The burden of his friend was taking it's toll, but the sight of the monsters shambling throughout the room had given his heart a painful jolt of terror. When the lights had gone out, he'd nearly dropped Kyousuke in panic.

Furious, Mami swung out in the darkness, hoping her desperate attempt would connect with something, realizing a second too late that Sayaka had been nearby when the lights had gone out, and could well be-

Sayaka felt a faint breeze, the hum of an object spun powerfully through the air instinctively causing her to dodge backward with a curse. "Careful," she whispered, crouching. The blunette tuned out the panicky noises coming from behind, straining her ears. The low, insistent moaning in the distance was punctuated by wet, tearing sounds and the occasional sharp snap of what she assumed was either tendon or bone. Shuddering, she tried to hear the shuffle of steps, the sound of-

Right behind her, a loud, angry wail, and she felt something grab her.

Homura glanced futilely back and forth, hoping somehow that her eyes would adjust, that she'd be able to make out something. "Wh-what should I d-do?" she whispered hoarsely, hearing the sounds of a struggle to her right. Through the stygian darkness, the raven-haired girl took a tentative step and found her legs caught up in an overturned chair, falling to the ground and breathing in sharply as her shin collided painfully with something hard.

Madoka, already infected by the panic in Hitomi's voice, heard the wail of the creature, the screams of her friends, the sound of furniture shifting on the cafeteria floor as the room erupted in unseen chaos. Shaking, she crept forward, hands fumbling with her backpack in the darkness. _Not there, not there… there! Got it!_

"RRrrrrrr," the thing on top of Sayaka groaned, its rancid breath nearly making her gag. Fighting back blindly, she held her wooden sword at both ends, pushing up and away. As the weight came off, she rolled in the opposite direction, heedless of obstructions, and came up in a crouch, trying to keep track of where the thing must be within the darkness. "Mami! Madoka!" she breathed heavily, poking out with her bokken, trying to find her target before it found her. "Careful, one's right here!"

"Sayaka-chan, hold on!" Madoka cried, her face suddenly hovering, spectral, in the darkness. A faint glow illuminated her face, frowning in concentration.. Homura froze as she tried to pick herself up off the floor and gasped in shock, one hand clenched tightly around the metal extinguisher, staring up at the spectral apparition of the pinkette's beautiful face hovering in the darkness. _A luminous angel.._.

Mami, suddenly terrified of losing the blunette as she'd heard the scuffle and cries behind her, heard the sounds of creatures approaching from directly ahead. _They must have been drawn to the sound_, Mami thought fatalistically. She swung out, failing to connect but feeling like the things were close, were _right there_-

Furiously, Sayaka cut a swath through nothing. She'd gotten turned around in the roll, or the monster had evaded her, and the desperate need to find it had made the blunette lose track. She opened her mouth to call out-

"Got it!" a voice exclaimed triumphantly.

Shadowy, shuffling figures became visible across a swath of the room. Sayaka saw her prey from the corner of her eye, and through slitted eyes advanced and cut it down, turning to look at the next, and the next, and the next.

Mami almost sobbed in relief as she realized that she could suddenly see. WIth step and a mighty thrust, she jabbed the pointy end of her stick into the open mouth of one of the abruptly visible zombies in her vicinity. The dark, open chest cavity nearly unnoticed in the shadows, but the trailing, ropy mess the thing seemed to drag with it was gruesomely unmistakable. Wrinkling her nose, the blonde withdrew her makeshift spear, dancing backwards with a glance to find Sayaka, a strange flicker in her chest betraying the vast sense of relief she felt in the girl's presence.

A brilliant halo outlined the blunette's lumpy, armored silhouette. The older girl's golden gaze closed involuntarily, a bright pinpoint of white pain stabbing tears from her eyes. Blinking the intense spots that the light had burned into her vision, she turned away, shielding her eyes with an arm while spinning her staff with the other.

"Nice one, Madoka-chan!" Sayaka praised, breathing heavily. She paused after dispatching another of the creatures with a chop to the head. She spun around, several others remaining between them and the door.

Hitomi, shaking, watched nervously as Nakazawa carried Kyousuke to the wall, his own staggering shuffle a decent imitation of the undead slowly closing in around them. Mazushii followed, carrying her thread-worn backpack and holding a long knife that looked exactly like what it was; something that belonged in a kitchen.

Madoka, panting with relief, held her phone high, watching her friends attack and destroy, the shadows moving disorientingly with the tremble of her hands. She nearly dropped the phone when she felt a hand touch her arm. "H-Homura-chan?"

"Kaname-san, check behind us please," Homura asked rather forcefully.

"I'm turning the light around quick," Madoka called out, warning her friends. The blunette and blonde paused, glancing back.

As Madoka turned her phone around, she actually felt her heart freeze. Scrambling backward from the clenching, filthy fingers, she felt Homura's surprisingly strong grip supporting her as she stumbled over a chair leg. The others were shouting, but she couldn't hear through the rush of her heart in her ears. Desperately, she clung to her phone and tried to keep her balance while backpedalling madly.

Sayaka cursed as she saw the pack of ghouls who'd silently shambled out of the kitchen, hot on their trail. Rushing back, she called out "On your left!" as she hurtled past Homura helping the pinkette, a flash of gratitude towards the strange black-haired girl gone for the moment and replaced with cold focus as she slashed the curved wooden sword down at the first creature's head. Half a dozen more were behind it, and several others began trickling in from the main dining area. "Mami-"

"I'm here," the blonde affirmed, drawing a quick, reassured glance from the younger girl that made her smile. She turned to the others, Nakazawa huddled against the wall, the shadowy darkness from their front hiding the ones she'd been concerned with before. "We need more light! Shizuki-san, Akemi-san-"

"I... don't-" Homura glanced at the others, barely visible in the reflected light. She'd always convinced herself that she was better off without a phone, not just unable to afford one. They made it ridiculously easy for the government to monitor someone, not to mention law enforcement. For the first time in years, she felt a stab of regret for not having what everyone else took for granted. "Someone, light!" she whispered fiercely, waiting two seconds before reiterating it in a growl.

With some fumbling, Nakazawa produced his and turned it on. "Shizuki-san," Homura implored, turning the light ahead of them. Several lurching forms moved erratically in the crazed mess ahead of them. Hitomi stared, then shook her head as she began to back away, wide-eyed with fright. Eyeing the pinkette nervously, the transfer student approached the green-haired girl. "Shizuki Hitomi, get a hold of yourself! Do something! We need your help!" She gave the girl a hard poke, which at least made her blink and let out a small whimper. A sickening, crunching noise behind them accompanied by grunting and panting drew her attention, and her voice wavered in panic as she shook Hitomi's shoulder with one hand. "Fine." She thrust the fire extinguisher into Hitomi's hands, which closed around it without thought. "Keep your eyes open, at least, and call out if you see anything!"

Seeing the other two looking as wild-eyed as the green-haired honor student, Homura paused. "Mazushii-san," she stated, drawing a startled look. "Come with me. Hitomi, help Nakazawa carry Kyousuke-"

"I c-can't, he's t-too heavy," the girl began, her lower lip trembling.

The lurching, shadowy figures were closing in. "_Fine_. Then watch Madoka's back. Tell her, tell us all, if you see something. Can you do that?" she finished, heavily dosed with acid. Hitomi seemed immune, only nodding and stepping toward the pinkette, still holding up her light. "Nakazawa, we have to go. Can you-"

"I'll be fine," he muttered, adjusting the grey-haired boy's arm that was slung over his shoulder.

Hugging the wall, the group continued on towards the door. Homura swallowed nervously, the scene before her truly something out of a nightmare. Madoka was lighting up the way back where they had come, and the transfer student risked a quick glance, taking in the fight that was still occupying the blonde and blunette. She felt gratitude at the way the girls had charged in, no doubt to protect Madoka. Those three were great friends, Homura had come to understand with a fatalistic wistfulness. The kind of group so tightly knit that it was impossible to penetrate, the strength of the bonds between the girls not leaving any room for someone like her.

Through the dark, her small radius of light lit up a half-dozen shambling forms slowly making their way towards the wall. Some of them would be worryingly close within moments. Then her eyes widened, first with confusion, then with terrible understanding. The light on Nakazawa's phone wasn't bright enough to pierce the complete blackness, but within a dozen meters, shapes could be made out. Beyond, in the engulfing darkness, dozens of crimson stars seemed to glimmer, sparkling and glowing with faint radiance. As she watched, some of the strange lights began to resolve themselves, pale, ghastly faces entering the limit of her light, the dead, gleaming eyes catching the light and reflecting it.

"There's lots of them coming at us from the center!" she called out as forcefully as she could, flicking her hair back over a shoulder in annoyance. Glancing back, she saw the two fighters assess the situation, looking grim beneath the blood staining their face and clothes.

"Let's go! Now! Go! Go! Go!" Mami called, rushing forward with Sayaka to block the approaching mass before the path to the doors were blocked.

"We're almost there, help Naka-" Homura backed up, glancing behind her to find Madoka and was nearly knocked to the ground as something ran into her, hard. Catching herself, Homura watched the green-haired girl dash ahead of the group. Hitomi hit the door running, a bar of light stabbing into the relative darkness of the cafeteria. Shapes stumbled to their right, the shadowy figures fresh from their feast in the center of the dining area, a seething mass of bloodstained walking dead. Guttural moaning began to take on a more eager tone as the creatures shuffled and crawled across the cafeteria with horrible purpose.

"Don't get separated!" Sayaka growled, seeing how spread out the group had gotten. "Madoka, get going!"

Hitomi burst through the doorway, sobbing in relief at long wall of glass, and the light, _the blessed light!_ -only to immediately choke, trying to backpedal in horrified surprise. A lone figure launched itself at her the moment she'd entered the hallway, and she stumbled into Nakazawa, knocking him down. Kyousuke fell awkwardly, groaning faintly.

"Ooof. H-help," gasped Nakazawa. "Heeeelp!"

Madoka, phone held in one hand and a long knife in the other, saw the disaster unfold, the door held open by the tangle of two fallen boys. Hitomi shrieked and staggered backward, clamoring away from the approaching monster. The pinkette saw the dark, ominous shape descend over her prone classmates, reaching out. Without a second thought she dashed forward, shouting a warning to the others. "Help me!"

Sayaka had lost one of her gloves somewhere in the darkness, and was breathing heavily, the muscles in her shoulders and arms burning. Backing away, she let her arms hang, dragging her sword with her. It felt like her shoulders were on fire, and her biceps had all the strength of a wet noodle. "Can't… go… much… more-" But when she heard the scream behind them, the blunette felt a new wave of energy course through her tired body, and took immediate advantage by laying the nearest creature down with an overhand cut of terrific violence. "Madoka!" she cried, turning to see a confusion of shapes at the doorway.

Mami shook the curls from her eyes, frantically trying to keep the approaching cluster of undead at bay with the end of her stick. Light shone in from the open doorway, where shadows danced about. Sayaka stood a few meters away, fending off two who'd come from the side. She heard the panicked cry behind them, desperate to look and see but focused entirely on staying one step ahead without tripping as she backed away. "Go," she muttered to the younger girl, terse to hide her gasping breaths.

Sayaka gave the blonde a brief look of gratitude, nodding even as she turned to sprint for the doorway. Taking a deep breath, Mami used her weapon to unbalance the nearest of the approaching monsters, trying to buy whatever time she could.

"Madoka!" Homura screamed, turning toward the door and abruptly leaving the warriors behind her in the dark. She saw the small form of the girl rushing forward, the glint of steel in her tiny fist. She saw the shadowy shape crystallize in her vision, the bloody, dripping maw, the clutching fingers. She saw the larger shape collapse on top of the smaller. "NOOO!" Desperately, she unslung her backpack, fumbling with the zipper.

Nakazawa was up on one arm, trying to crawl away when the pink blur seemed to fly over his head. The weight on top of him disappeared, and he fled the bloodstained, grasping hands that were no longer right in front of his face. The door swung shut, and the room was again dark.

Attempting to keep from stepping on any of Kyousuke's delicate parts, Madoka scrambled furiously, trying to push the impossibly strong man off of her. _I tried_, she thought sadly as she felt herself being borne inevitably to the floor, hearing the cries and fighting from behind the swinging door. The impact of her charge had been enough to knock the creature away from her friends, but it had latched on almost instantly, her knife imbedded several inches into its neck. As the jaws neared, teeth stained red and stinking of death, she dropped her phone, fending off the creature as best she could.

The door swung open a crack, and Sayaka had just enough time to see the monster's hideous mouth open wide, it's face descending on the poor little pinkette. As she ran through the darkness, she heard Madoka scream. _Too far_, she thought regretfully, hating the intense feeling of defeat. _Too far away. Why wasn't I closer?_

Three strides later, she burst through the door, heedless of the pained cry as it slammed into something partway. Murder in her cold, blue eyes, Sayaka tried to prepare herself but was never the less shocked at the sight. The pinkette, trapped below, her arms coated in blood, a pool of dark crimson spreading across the tile as the shapes struggled feebly in a monstrous embrace.

"NO!" Reaching out, the blunette grabbed the zombie sprawled on top of the pinkette, lifting with all her might. The thing rolled off the smaller girl without struggle, and she glanced at the unmoving body without comprehension, bokken falling to her side. A worn, wooden handle disappeared into the corpse's throat, dark blood encrusting the knife to its hilt.

Homura rushed into the room, standing over Madoka in disbelief. The girl below her lay still, barely breathing, her eyes wide and unseeing. The blood looked so wrong on her. Sinking to her knees, the sport glasses were suddenly foggy, or dirty, or… feeling the trickle down her cheek, the transfer student tentatively reached out-

Madoka stared up, wide-eyed, before violently starting at Homura's touch. "H-Homura-chan-" Heedless of the gore, the transfer student bent down to clutch the pinkette in a fierce hug. "H-homura-chan… can't… breathe-"

"Easy there," Sayaka grinned, looking amazed at her friend for a moment before glancing around in alarm, the realization that things were by no means over, or even better. "Homura, get Madoka over there-" she pointed down the hall, away from the cafeteria door. She eyed the limp form of the grey-haired boy she'd known for so long, slumped near the doorway, feeling a trace of regret.

Stepping over Kyousuke, Sayaka opened the doorway, and was nearly trampled as Hitomi and Mazushii stampeded into the room in blind panic, a pale-looking Nakazawa close on their heels. "They're coming!"

"Run!"

"Mami-san?" Sayaka inquired, but saw the generous figure of the older girl dashing through the shadows. Without thought, she barked out some quick orders. "Mazushii and Hitomi, get Kyousuke. Nakazawa, hang in there man. Homura, get Madoka down the hall, they'll be here any moment." She took up position near the door, listening intently to the sounds coming from within while Mami, smiling to herself, led the rest to the equipment locker she'd thought might be a safe zone.

Red-faced, Madoka allowed Homura to help her up, panting to catch her breath. As the black-haired girl turned to retrieve the knife embedded in the zombie's neck, the pinkette rubbed her arm and pulled at hems of her twisted uniform. Wiping some of the blood off her hands, she stared at the dark stains along her sleeves, sleeves that had been immaculate and white this morning. Like everything else in her world.

_Damn_. Homura nearly whistled in appreciation, giving the exposed handle of the knife one more tug without success. "Looks like you stabbed it in there pretty good," she marveled; the blade had gone up, through the soft palate, up into the roof of the mouth and beyond. Unless she misjudged, the tip of that blade stabbed all the way through the creature's head, it's tip likely imbedded in the far wall of the skull. "I think we have to leave it," she stated.

"F-fine by me," the pinkette responded shakily, walking unsteadily down the hallway as Mami beckoned her from a nearby doorway. And then, abruptly, the doors burst open and everyone was screaming as a tide of the undead poured into the well-lit corridor, their hideous expressions and blood-spattered menace spurring her tired body into action once again.

* * *

><p>Slamming the door shut behind her, Mami leaned against it and looked around wildly. "Grab something! Help me-" Her plea was cut off as her breath caught, the door thudding behind her back. The resonant pounding of fists against the metal echoed through the dim room, and in the wavering light the group began frantically searching.<p>

Glancing around, Sayaka shook her head in frustration, taking off the cumbersome mask. She heard Mami gasp behind her, abandoning the search and rushing back to the door, bracing it with her shoulder.

The blonde turned, looking down at the messy-haired blunette with the faintest of smiles. The pounding stopped for a moment, the inhuman sounds of the moaning intensifying from the hallway before the steady, almost rhythmic slamming against the door continued.

Madoka tried dragging a long metal bench across the narrow storage space, but with one arm found the process difficult. Heart pounding, realizing her friends were still in danger, that they were _depending _on her, the pinkette grimaced and the heavy object slid another meter across the cold tile floor.

Homura grunted as she slid the tall stack of chairs up to the door, reinforcing the overturned table that Nakazawa and Mazushii had set against the door. Clutching at her arm in worry, the transfer student tried to take deep breaths, watching Madoka struggle with the large thing she was trying to drag one-handed. She heard the other's talking, a whispering drone that couldn't be distinguished over the wild, erratic beating of her heart.

The run through the hallways had been taxing, but the shock of the darkness and fleeing and fighting for her life… It had been all she could do to keep up. If only she'd been normal. Cradling her arm, determinedly ignoring the increasingly sharp stabbing pains, Homura took a step toward the pinkette, determined to help.

"Akemi-san!" Mami cried, catching the raven-haired girl just as she collapsed. Madoka looked up, concern overwhelming her focus, rushing forward to kneel at the fallen girl's side. As the strong arms of the blonde gently laid the transfer student down, Sayaka took one look at the sweat-beaded forehead and weak breathing before rushing over to the metal bench Madoka had left in the middle of the room. Heaving, she didn't stop until it was firmly braced against the door.

It was quieter outside.

"Medicine…" Homura sighed, feeling weak, the sharp stabbing pains in her chest having faded into needle-like jabs. She couldn't catch her breath. It was so dark. Something was squeezing her, inside.

Madoka looked around in helpless confusion. "What does she mean? What's wrong? How can we help her?" Each plea was more desperate than the last. Mami laid a calming hand on her shoulder, surprised as Madoka self-consciously shrugged it off.

"Akemi-san," Mami urged, talking slowly and steadily. "What medicine?" Hoping against hope, she began rooting around in the pockets of the younger girl's backpack.

"Nurse. Has it." Homura tried to chuckle, for Madoka's benefit, not being able to stand those wide sunset-pink eyes quivering with concern that pierced right through her, even in the half-lit storage room.

_I was just there! _Mami's breath caught at the vast unfairness of it all. Sayaka frowned, thinking the exact same thing.

There was a rattling sound from the darkness, but Madoka couldn't take her eyes off Homura. She held her phone at an angle, not wanting to blind the poor girl, but she was so pale and frightened-looking it made her want to weep. And when the transfer student made a strange choking sound that Madoka was positive was an attempt at a rueful laugh, the tears began to overflow.

Mami had looked up at the strangely hollow shaking sound, instantly alert, but it was Hitomi who broke the silence. "What _the hell_ is _that_, Poor-chan?"

Sapphire eyes widened in amazement; Sayaka gasped as she saw dozens and dozens of tiny cylinders spill out of an upturned bag, Mazushii's brow furrowed with determination underneath her straight brown bangs. Bottles and bottles, all of which were suspiciously similar to the pharmaceutical variety…

"You little thief."

The girl shook her chestnut hair, dismissing Hitomi's muttered criticism for the moment. She had long become inured to insults. Crouching down, she began rooting through the pile. "Can you give me some light, please?" This was directed at no one in particular, but since only Madoka and Hitomi held the lights, and Madoka was preoccupied…

"I'm not doing anythi- HEY!" Hitomi tossed her green locks in frustration, crossing her arms.

Nakazawa held his newly-acquired prize up to illuminate the floor, then shrugged and crouched down to help. "There's so many," he began, but after a few moments couldn't figure out how to continue.

"They… I…. it's not for me." Mazushii wouldn't meet his eye, and Nakazawa was uncomfortably aware of the girl's furious blush. Her straight blonde hair fell across her shoulders, hiding her from his sight.

"Hey, no, it's cool. I don't judge." Wincing, the brown-haired boy paused. _Too condescending_. "I mean, it doesn't matter." Thankfully, Mazushii let out a triumphant exclamation, fumbling with the bottle as she stood and approached the stricken transfer student.

Madoka watched, both hands clutched around Homura's cold, weak fingers, tears streaming out from her eyes. First Sensei, then Masumi-chan, and maybe Kyousuke-kun, and now Homura-chan… it was too much. Whoever, whatever, was responsible for this… they'd gone too far. It was too much, too much for anyone to deal with-

Mami's excited voice and a firm shake to her shoulder made her blink, and the pinkette watched in amazement as the blonde gently cradled the girl's pale head in her lap, drawing the clinging, sweat-damp hair from her forehead. "If only we had some water…"

Madoka's whole body seemed to light up. She twisted around, reaching into her backpack and pulling out a clear plastic bottle. "Here's some," she offered. "Water," she added needlessly as Mami smiled.

While the older girl administered the pill, Mazushii watched awkwardly, feeling strange. She'd never felt bad, really, doing what she needed to do. Not everyone had rich parents and a trust fund to fall back on. The costs of school alone… without a little supplemental income, she'd have starved years ago.

She usually kept it to swiping a few pills here or there, or occasionally a bottle that had been left out. But down in the infirmary, while everyone had been focused entirely on their own misery and fear, Mazushii had seen the golden opportunity and taken it. And now, it seemed to be good that she had. She turned, flashing Hitomi a nasty smile as the pinkette at her feet began thanking her profusely, encouraging Homura, and hen-pecking Mami about the angle she held the other girl's neck.

The world had gone to shit, certainly. But, now, things were going to be different. It wasn't about how much money you had, or which important people you knew. It was about surviving. Mazushii, the girl everyone thought of as Poor-chan, had spent most of her life doing just that.

Surviving.

* * *

><p>The banging would suddenly be resounding throughout the wide room, making everyone cover their ears until the pounding would cease. On and off, it began to wear on everyone's nerves.<p>

A few minutes of searching turned up little of use aside from some ancient, dinged metal bats and piles of thick hemp rope that lay in a corner, gathering dust.

"We're trapped, you idiots! You've gotten us all killed!"

"Don't be a fool, Shizuki-san." Mami held her fist up, very nearly looking like she was about to give the green-haired girl a certain single-fingered gesture. Instead, it was her index finger that rose, pointing up and behind. A metal ladder led up, into the ceiling and disappearing in shadow.

* * *

><p>Swallowing, Sayaka steeled her resolve, determined to just sit here, and do exactly what Mami-san was doing.<p>

Sit. And watch.

The parts of the school visible through the glass told a harrowing tale that continued to unfold before her eyes. Shambling figures moved jerkily, sometimes just standing and swaying for long minutes before lurching off again, seemingly at random. Foul, dark stains and smears adorned the floor, the walls, sometimes the glass ceiling itself. In one particular hallway, an impressively gruesome spatter blocked all visibility, and the blunette couldn't help wonder what had resulted in so much blood being sprayed all the way to the ceiling.

Even worse was looking at the grounds. The bottom two levels were out of sight, except for the wings which jutted out and were visible from their corner of the rooftop. But the bottom level was overrun.

Dozens of things stumbled across the well-manicured lawns, trampling the exotic flower beds and occasionally pausing to tilt their heads, almost quizzically, before lurching on in a new direction. Several congregated, slowing down, and the mass of undead would grow until, unnervingly, the twisted faces would turn, almost in unison. Sayaka winced, feeling her nerves pulled taut and ready to snap. They'd been watching for fifteen minutes, and the last time one of the mobs had done that-

"Not again." Sayaka glanced at the blonde, seeing the older girl's shoulders slump. Mami's voice was a whisper; her voice so choked with pain that the blunette felt herself tearing up, unable to control her breathing. The sound from below increased, a noise of agitation and fury and madness.

Cursing herself, Mami bit her lip painfully as she slid over to the younger girl, watching as her shimmering eyes began to overflow with hopelessness and horror. Feeling herself embraced, Sayaka buried her head into the blonde's thick hair, her body quivering ever so slightly. The older girl squeezed, watching over the back of the blue-haired girl's head.

Just like before, the zombies had begun moving even before the doors opened. As the frightened pair burst out of the building, more of the blood-stained monsters hot on their heels, they ran straight into the clutching hands of the ghouls that waited outside.

The screams were mercifully brief. One of the two figures somehow muscled it's way through, running to the gate while his partner's pleading screams were abruptly cut off. Mami felt the blunette push her head further into her shoulder, as if to somehow escape that terrible shrieking.

Mere meters from the gate, the last one standing was taken down, pulled to the ground as a seething mass of flailing, blood-drenched figures encircled the helpless victim. The growling and moaning drown out any sound the fallen boy may have made. Mami watched, and soon the frenzy had ended. Slowly, jerkily, the creatures got up, shuffling around almost aimlessly.

Some swayed, standing still. Others, moving about at random, slowly began to congregate, small groups clustering, slowly growing as the creatures began to slow down, congregating in several large masses.

A dozen in one. Twenty in another. Impossible odds. How many students had been at school today? How many staff? Had they all been changed, turned into the monsters?

Sirens wailed in the distance, as they had been for long minutes. Unlike normally, there was no change in the direction of the sound; they were certainly not getting any closer. The blunette continued to shake in her embrace.

Shifting, the curvy blonde looked backward, into the rear grounds. This area, separated from the front by a security wall, was miraculously clear. The loading docks, the parking lot, and most importantly…

Golden eyes shimmered, staring hard at the oh-so-familiar outbuilding. It was an equipment locker, but so much more. It was where the athletic department stored all of their specialized equipment, the professional grade stuff that got used in prefectural competitions and regional meets. "We have to get _there_," she murmured to herself, increasingly obsessed with the idea.

Sniffling, Sayaka drew back, feeling ashamed. Wiping her nose with an already-soiled sleeve, the younger girl stared in dismay at the blonde's shoulder, brushing at it hastily with her hand. "S-sorry-"

"No need for that, Sayaka-chan." Mami smiled encouragingly. "We're going to do this. But we have to believe, we can't give up hope."

Sayaka shuddered. She felt like throwing up. When she was fighting, it was different. "I… I want to have hope, Mami-san, but… It's different. When we're fighting them, it's like…" She shrugged. "Easier. But now… thinking about it, _hearing _it-" That sound, the screaming wail of utter hopelessness or hideous agony…

Mami waited patiently, feeling like the girl had more that she wanted to say, knowing that empty platitudes were not going to help the blunette get through this. If she was honest with herself, and Tomoe Mami was honest to a fault, the blonde knew that the empty phrases of cheer were as much for herself as any of the others.

_If you put on a brave face for others, well, it somehow makes you feel a little more confident yourself._

"I c-can't stand it," the blunette continued, swallowing hard. "There's… it's so… I always _liked _zombie games," she finished in a near wail, "but this isn't fun! It's horrible, it's the worst thing ever!"

"You're right." Mami's simple agreement made Sayaka look up, open-mouthed. "There is nothing I can think of that could be worse that what we find ourselves in the middle of at this very moment. Ravenous monsters obsessed with not only killing, but eating us. So many of them, and the power is out, and we're trapped with no way to communicate with the authorities, not that there seem to be any of them around, anyway." Mami sighed, but held the aquamarine eyes with her own. "Phones don't work, most everyone dead in the school, and who knows what we'll find outside…"

Sayaka, blinking, shook her head slowly. "Is… this supposed to be, um, helping…?"

Mami laughed, the familiar melodious tinkle a shadow of its former self. "Hardly. All those things are true, and we have to face that. But… there was one thing that was a lie." She paused dramatically. "I can think of something worse than this situation. If… if I'd lost you…" Mami swallowed, and Sayaka blinked back a fresh wave of tears. "Or… or Madoka-chan, or… but we are here, Sayaka. We are alive, and as long as we are I'm not going to give up, I'm not going to let any of my friends down. I'm not going to let any of us die, Sayaka-chan!"

The blunette smiled, trying to mask the sudden sense of incredible fatigue that washed over her as she knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that the blonde's promise was beyond her power to deliver. She took a deep breath. "You're right, Mami-san. We can't give up. We won't." She paused, thinking. "_I_ won't."

That got a smile. "Never give up, Sayaka-chan. Promise me that. No matter what happens, you'll keep fighting. Promise me you'll survive." The blunette felt a chill of foreboding, but nodded. Mami let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding."The others need you. They need to see your strength; it will give them some of their own." _I need some of it, too,_ the blonde acknowledged privately. She felt worn thin from the events of the past hour.

"Alright, that was the bad news. Want to hear the good news?"

"There's good news?" the blue-haired girl asked skeptically while rubbing her eyes with the back of a hand. Her gaze followed Mami's outstretched finger. "The back lot?" A cursory examination showed the place empty of any movement. "Wait, the bunker?" Mami nodded, and the blunette couldn't help but feel intrigued. The oddly shaped building was the setting for numerous school legends, the place being off limits to everyone except the upper-tier athletes.

Mami chuckled at the building's nickname, wondering if anyone knew how close it came to the truth. "I have the key," she smiled, patting her pocket. "That's where I go to practice."

"Inside? I thought it just stored all the cool stuff we never get to use."

"Well," the blonde admitted, "I'm not supposed to tell anyone, but in light of recent events… that's where they have the range set up."

Sayaka frowned. "Range? What? Like… golf?"

"No," Mami said, "more like a shooting range." She smiled as the blunette opened her mouth, wide eyed, but nothing came out at first.

"Shooting…?"

"Yes. The shooting range."

"On school grounds?"

"Technically, below ground. For safety and, well, to make sure nobody can hear it. Still, I'm only allowed to use it early in the mor-"

"Why are there… how did you…" The blunette took a breath. "You get to shoot guns? At school?"

"I told you. I've been training for the biathlon for the past two years!"

Sayaka shook her head in amazement. "I thought, you know. Swimming. Running. That kind of '-athalon'."

Mami couldn't keep herself from leaning forward to muss up the blunette's hair. "Sayaka-chan, you are so cute!" Ignoring the suddenly furious blush her younger friend wore, the blonde played with her curls as she continued. "Even better, there's the training facility, up in the mountains. If we can get into the Bunker, we can get guns, and whatever else we might find. They have keys to the minibuses the smaller teams use for away games and meets… and if we can get a vehicle, we can head up into the mountains! I was up there last winter, and it was great! They have for cross country skiing, it's maybe a two hour drive… Sayaka-chan, it would be perfect. Isolated, rugged terrain, a stockpile of food and necessities… It wouldn't be exactly luxurious, but…"

Amazingly, Sayaka felt some of the crushing doubt lift, allowing her to breathe. They had a plan. Mami knew what to do.

That was good enough for her.

* * *

><p><strong>Updates may be even more periodic that for psychosaga. Keep letting me know what you think.<strong>


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

_The best laid plans_

"Man, I'm hungry. It's gotta be close to lunchtime by now…" Nakazawa sighed, absently running a hand through his long brown hair.

"Kitchen's just out the door and to the left," Mazushii supplied with an impish grin, immediately regretting her stab at humor as the boy paled visibly.

"Ah, n-no thanks," he muttered, eyeing the pile of debris blocking the doorway.

Something outside thumped against the metal.

"What's taking them so long?" snarled Hitomi, getting up from the makeshift bench to begin pacing again, the small area ringing with her agitated footsteps.

Mami and Sayaka had disappeared up the ladder to check things out, and the minutes had ticked by slowly for those who remained below. A square of light banished the darkness, shining in from where the panel on the ceiling had been removed. After a few attempts at establishing a connection, the cell phones were pocketed. Nakazawa recommended putting them on airplane mode to conserve batteries, but Madoka left her's on, hoping for a call from her mom...

Rolling her eyes at the green-haired girl's complaints, Homura turned to look at the small figure beside her.

In the dim light, Homura could clearly make out the tenseness of the tiny pinkette. Her arms were clenched across her chest, and the girl's adorable face was strained with worry. "Madoka-chan," the black haired girl began gently, reaching out to touch the girl's arm. With a violent start, Madoka seemed to recoil from her hand for a moment, breathing rapidly before coming to herself.

"Oh, so sorry, Homura-chan," the pinkette breathed, "I… you startled me. Sorry."

Homura felt herself blushing. "No need for apologies." She paused. "It's been a… difficult day."

Madoka's wide, pink-hued eyes stared at the pale transfer student blankly for a moment. Then she began to chuckle. "It… it has. Hasn't it?" Homura smiled, letting out a little sigh, but her dreamy expression changed as the tinkling laughter transformed into sobs as the smaller girl burst into tears.

Taken aback, Homura nevertheless knew exactly what needed to be done. Leaning forward, she opened her arms and held on to the smaller girl, feeling every convulsion of her petite frame as Madoka sobbed into her shoulder. "There, there," Homura tried, awkwardly. She gave the girl an experimental pat on the back. "I'm sorry, Madoka-chan. Sorry this is happening." She took a breath, conscious of ever vibration the pink-haired head and grasping arms sent through her body with each desperate sob, and at the same time the exquisite smell of strawberries coming from the girl's hair. "It's not fair. Not for you. But, for me…" The black-haired girl paused, taking an experimentally deep breath. No pains in her chest, the sharp stabbing gone, at least for the moment. Letting it out in a sigh, she felt her new friend regain control, a sniffle from her shoulder. "I'm happy, at least, that… that we got to be friends. Or," she amended hastily as the smaller girl looked up, her eyes red-rimmed and glimmering, "that we got to meet, at least."

The pinkette smiled bravely, her watery eyes streaming with leftover tears. "I'm happy we're friends, too." She felt some of the darkness shrink back as the enigmatic transfer student's face lit up in a genuine smile. The stare went on a bit longer than comfortable, and Madoka was equally surprised and pleased when something drew her gaze away.

"Don't… be sad, Madoka-san."

"Kyousuke!" Madoka, followed closely by Hitomi and Nakazawa, gathered around the grey-haired boy who lay stretched out on the ground, Madoka's backpack underneath his head. The musician's steel-grey eyes blinked, seeming to have trouble focusing.

"Kyousuke-kun, are you okay?" Hitomi asked, her face full of concern. "I've been so worried, so scared for you, please be alright. You're alright, aren't you? I just couldn't bear it if-"

"It might be best if you gave him some space," Homura stated flatly, knowing firsthand how disorienting waking up to a bunch of jabbering people could be.

"_Where_ is Tomoe-san?" the green-haired girl asked in a rather rude tone. Madoka glanced at her in dismay. "She should be here, she's the one who knows about first aid and… nursing and..." She glanced at the bandage wrapped around her boyfriend's hand, soaked with a dark, wet crimson. She turned away, swallowing hard.

"Hitomi-chan, Mami-san is scouting up top, trying to find us a way out of here." Madoka stood up, walking a few steps before bending over to pick something up. "Don't be upset with her for keeping us safe." Giving Mazushii a smile as she returned to her seat. "I'm sure we can help Kyousuke-kun until she gets back. Right, Kyousuke-kun?"

Blinking, the young man grinned up at the pair. "Yes, I'm certain you can. I'm feeling fine, a little tired. I was having some amazingly vivid dreams, there were monsters, and I was being chased and…" Madoka didn't have the heart to stop him, but Hitomi set things straight. The pinkette was amazed at how apparent it was when the light of good humor and hope died in Kyousuke's eyes.

_If only this weren't real. If only I was dreaming, right now, and soon I'm going to wake up_...

* * *

><p>Madoka tried to listen carefully, but her arm was bothering her. She'd caught Homura looking at her funny, and glanced down to realize she was gripping the bloodstained sleeve with her right hand. Unclenching her fingers, she'd blushed and stuttered something about how lucky they were that Mazushii-san had acquired the pills that had come in so handy…<p>

Blinking the fuzziness from her vision, she focused on the tall, statuesque blonde, so confident and athletic and smart and loved… everything she wasn't. Madoka didn't feel the slightest bit of jealousy, and envy was not what clouded her vision. She admired her elder with all her heart, and once again her smart Sempai didn't fail to impress.

"We'll go down into the back lot, using these ropes," Mami said, hefting one of the frayed, torturously antiquated ropes lying in a bundle. "Miki-san and I will go down first to clear the way, the rest of you following, with Nakazawa bringing up the rear." She glanced at the boy, who nodded, nervously brushing back hair from his eyes.

"Ah, Kyousuke-kun, will you be able to climb down?" Sayaka asked, trying to mask the concern in her voice unsuccessfully.

The grey-haired boy blinked. "He's fine, he'll be fine, right sweetie?" Hitomi cooed, smiling up and petting her boyfriend's arm. With a slow smile, he nodded.

"Yes, I'm feeling fine, Sayaka-san, thanks for your concern. I think I can climb down a rope."

Smiling, Mami continued. "I have the key to the storage building." She lifted a cord tied around her neck, a long loop from which dangled a single square key. "I tied it to this cord, so that you can grab it quickly, if anything should happen to me."

"Mami!" Sayaka protested, shaking the thought from her mind.

There were other exclamations, but the older girl crossed her arms patiently. "We need to be looking at this with open eyes, people. We've seen too much of this… this _hell_," she spat, "to blindly hope that things will somehow turn out alright." She paused, looking at each of the onlookers in the eye, one by one. "That we'll be _rescued_. We need to face the facts, and at the moment, they seem to include the possibility of imminent death for any of us."

As if to punctuate her appraisal of their situation, the door leading to the hallway resounded with a sharp, metallic bang. Everyone, even Mami, jumped. "Mami-san," Sayaka began, searching for words, heart in her throat. While the others dwelt on their own dark thoughts, the golden-eyed girl waited for the blunette to express her thought. "We can't give up hope. That's all we have. I'm not stupid," she muttered, feeling slightly ashamed for even seeming to contradict her elder, who was staring at her intently. "Those sirens… they've been stuck, wherever they are, the whole time." Madoka looked up at her, and Sayaka looked down sadly. "They're not coming for us. They might be… trapped. Or…"

"Dead," whispered HItomi, looking frightened. _Maybe we aren't going to be rescued!_

Homura cleared her throat, and everyone glanced at her. "Or, more likely… zombies, themselves." There were several winces and a whimper or two.

Mami looked at the raven-haired girl coldly, so odd with her strange mannerisms and sports goggles and toting around a weapon in school. The blonde determined to keep an eye on the transfer student, just in case. "Thank you, Akemi-san."

"I'm _not _giving up," said Sayaka, immediately regretting the volume of her outburst as the small room echoed momentarily. "I do have hope, hope that we'll get out of this. We're smart, strong, and we've gotten this far-"

"We're not even halfway across the school!" Hitomi nearly shrieked with incredulity.

"We've gotten this far, dammit," Sayaka continued, glaring at the green-haired girl and ignoring Madoka's gasp. "If we keep working together… everyone else seemed to go their own way. You saw what happened, same as me. They died alone. We're not alone, we have each other! I'm going to do everything in my power to keep us all safe. I know Mami will, as well. And Madoka, and… We _all _will! Come on, guys, we can do this! Mami's got a plan!"

Mami smiled, she couldn't have set up that introduction any better if she'd planned it. "Thank you, Miki-san. Of course, you are correct. I didn't mean to imply this situation is hopeless. I'm tired," she admitted, feeling herself sag despite her best effort. "We all are, I'm sure. But, we have to consider the worst case scenarios, so we can plan for them. Just in case."

"What's a suh-nario?" piped Madoka, wanting to understand every detail of this plan. With effort, she kept herself from massaging her aching arm.

"It's a hypothetical." Mami recognized the fake look of understanding that played across her protoge's face. "A possibility. Something that might happen. We'll get to contingencies in a moment. But for now, the big picture. We'll run across the yard, gaining entry to the storage building and barricading ourselves inside. We'll be pretty close to the parking lot at that point, which does have some of _them _wandering about, but not so many that I think we can't handle it."

Looking around, she saw the rapt attention, even from the blunette, who'd heard her rehearsal of this little speech up on the rooftop. "The storage building stores equipment; all kinds of things we'll be able to use. Plus, there's a stash of mediocre rifles in the sub-basement, with ammunition and cleaning equipment and loads of magazines."

"Guns?" asked Mazushii, eyebrows raised.

"What kind of specs…?" Homura asked innocently.

"Small caliber competition rimfire rifles, twenty-twos with five round magazines. Bolt action."

Homura frowned. It sounded less like a weapon and more like a toy. "Slow _and _weak. What are they supposed to do-"

Mami clucked her tongue, then blushed, furious with showing her impatience. "I'll show you exactly what they'll do, once we get them, Akemi-san. I'm a fairly good shot."

"More like the best!" Sayaka called from across the room, beginning to coil the thick rope around her torso.

Madoka giggled. "Sayaka-chan, I didn't know Mami trained with guns before today! Did you know?" she inquired forcefully.

"What? No…" Sayaka began, confused.

"Then how do you know Mami's the best?" the pinkette asked, an overly innocent look on her face while her eyes stared up and to the side.

"I… well, I just…" Mami turned away as the blunette stammered helplessly, feeling the dark mood lift at the antics of the younger girls, trying not to think about exactly what the pinkette was so obviously hinting at.

* * *

><p>"Sayaka-chan, I wanted to speak with you for a moment."<p>

"Oh!" Sayaka felt the heat coloring her cheeks as she turned around to look at the grey-haired boy's feet. "Ah," she began, struggling under the outrageously heavy rope, "I was just about to bring this up…"

"I wanted to thank you-"

"Oh, no need…"

Kyousuke paused, waiting patiently, but the blunette's protest died on her lips. "Really. Thanks. For coming for us. It's the last thing I remember, actually. Waiting in that room, watching the… all that stuff. And then, just when it looked hopeless…" he paused, breaking off. _Why is she looking so uncomfortable?_ "So… You're going to climb up the ladder? With that?"

Sayaka felt the faintest trace of anger creep its way up her spine at the boy's questioning tone. _You think I can't carry this? Haven't I- _

"It looks really heavy. Here, let me…" he began, looking around. Finding a long electrical cord, he returned. "May I…?" he asked, miming lifting the rope from around the blunette's shoulders.

"Um, sure," she struggled, wriggling to get the massive coil over her head. She jumped a little when she felt his hand make contact with her abdomen as he reached out to help.

"Sorry," he muttered, his turn to blush. From a corner, Nakazawa snickered loudly until Sayaka spun around to give him the evil eye.

Deftly, her grey-haired friend knelt down, the boy she'd known for so long and had secretly harbored so many fantasies about. _Stupid errant thoughts_, she chastised herself furiously. Now was not the time for thinking about any of _that_.

"This is how they do it in the mountains of Europe," Kyousuke began conversationally. "During the tour last year, we had a chance to visit this spot in Switzerland…" His eyes got a far away look, as they always did recounting the myriad adventures Sayaka herself could only dream of experiencing. "When they climb, one of them carries a smaller rope, which is tied to the bigger rope. Once you get up top, it's easier to pull it up than try to climb while carrying so much weight on your chest." Almost involuntarily, the grey-haired boy glanced down, and Sayaka blinked in surprise even as he turned away, blushing furiously. _He totally just checked me out!_

"I didn't know you climbed mountains," the blunette tried to joke, her voice cracking embarrassingly in the middle of the sentence.

"Oh, we didn't get to go climbing," the grey-haired boy stated with a trace of wistfulness. "I could never do anything so dangerous, not with the insurance clauses my family had to sign. One of the reasons I'm exempt from Phy. Ed." He shrugged, smiling slightly. "Exempt, forbidden, take your pick. A lot of money goes into organizing an international event, and they can't afford a musician cancelling on account of an injury like-"

"Kyousuke-kun, could you please help me?" Hitomi sang from the opposite side of the room, a fakely cheerful smile on her face.

"Ah, y-yes, Hitomi-san." He didn't turn back to the blunette, but muttered "Hope that helps," as he strode across the room.

It did. Ten minutes later, everyone was on the roof, hyperventilating with anticipation and dread.

* * *

><p>"Let's see what you have," Mami demanded, making certain everyone was armed in some fashion. Kyousuke and Nakazawa held up their ancient, battered metal bats, the later twirling his around showily. "<em>Boys<em>." Rolling her eyes with an indulgent smile, Mami nodded at HItomi, holding a tiny fire extinguisher with both hands, looking uncomfortable. Mazushii held a long knife she'd picked up in the kitchen, periodically shifting it from one hand to another while she wiped alternating palms on her torn, soiled dress. Madoka, her hair held up in tidy pigtails once again, held another bat with both hands, wincing at the thought of splinters of wood being driven into her hands but determined to protect her friends.

Mami quirked an eyebrow when her gaze rested on Homura, who clutched her hands nervously before her. "Akemi-san, couldn't you find…" She stopped, seeing the other girl wanted to speak.

"I have a… weapon." Fiddling with her sport-goggles needlessly, the girl radiated a distinct sense of nervousness. "I just didn't want to… to startle anyone." She reached into her bag.

"Whoa!"

"Holy shit-"

"What the-"

"Akemi-san!" Mami whispered, truly shocked. "What are you doing with _that_?!"

Homura held the 9mm automatic with familiar ease, and the tension seemed to drain out of her as fingers locked around the smooth, comforting grip. Unable to resist herself, she cocked the slide back, chambering one of the seventeen rounds held in the clip. "I spent some time in America, as part of a student exchange program," she explained, feeling good to talk about the past with someone. Anyone. She certainly had everyone's attention. "My host family… they were very fervent supporters of what they called… their 'right to bear arms.'" The group looked at her in confusion. "They had many firearms, and, for their family bonding activity… we'd, ah, shoot stuff."

"Bare arms? Like, sleeveless?" Sayaka glanced around in confusion, but everyone's' eyes were on the gun.

"Shooting, like… cans, and things?" Madoka asked, her voice tinged with fearful hope. She hoped the other girl wasn't talking about cute little squirrels, or bunny rabbits… but she was afraid-

Homura, sensing the girl's squeamishness, put the gun back into her bag, noting both boys' looks of disappointment. "Cans, bottles, targets." In her head, she continued the list. Rats, squirrels, rabbits, one deer, and her pride and joy, the coyote. Her foster-brother had pretended it had been a neighbors dog, but Homura was certain it had been the coyote that had been seen in the area.

Nakazawa swallowed. "Can… can I hold it?"

"No," the black-haired girl answered simply. She slung her backpack over her shoulders. The others, looking slightly bewildered, were herded by Mami towards the edge of the rooftop, where a thick rope was tied to a series of pipes and fans jutting up from the roof. The cord lay taunt, stretching to the edge before disappearing over the side.

"Why did you bring that thing to school?" Hitomi asked, lingering behind. Her eyes betrayed the disgust she felt. _Bringing a weapon into a school! LIke some kind of crazy_. "Are you some kind of psychotic freak?"

Turning, Homura eyed her flatly. "Another thing I learned from the crazy Americans, is that sometimes people will go to extreme measures to stop someone from harassing them. Especially at school."

Hitomi paled, and the transfer student brushed her long hair over a shoulder, walking to join the others, trying to mask the elation she was feeling inside.

* * *

><p>Wincing as she slid down the final four meters, Madoka looked at her hands in dismay, the red rope burns beginning to weep tiny droplets of blood. "Owww."<p>

Hitomi was halfway down, struggling furiously, when they heard Nakazawa's warning. "Look out, they're coming in from the parking lot!"

Heads swiveled, and sure enough, several of the shambling figures emerged, tattered and blood-stained clothing rippling in the stiff breeze. _Okay_, thought Mami, _not so bad_-

"More! Oh god, there are a bunch that were down by the loading dock! They're coming!"

Cursing, glad for the warning but certain Nakazawa's panicked voice was calling every monster within hearing to their location, Sayaka waved up, trying to make shushing gestures.

"There's gotta be a dozen! I'm coming down!"

Mazushii glanced around anxiously, adjusting her backpack containing the few useful medicines that Mami had helped her to pick out. She'd noticed the blonde pocket something herself after discarding it as "useless," wondering what the older girl had taken. Then something hit the ground next to her with a thud.

"Ahh!" Kyousuke cried. _Maybe I wasn't ready to climb down after all_, he thought woozily as the sharp stabbing pain in his ankle faded in and out. He felt the blood beginning to seep from his hand, trickling down his arm as the wound reopened.

Homura felt her hands shaking as the first of the monsters came around a corner, other lurching figures at its heels. With Hitomi's help, she hoisted the grey-haired boy up as Nakazawa dropped the last meter and dashed for the metal bat he'd tossed down.

As the injured boy was slowly led across the yard, Sayaka and Nakazawa took up flanking positions. The group that had entered from the parking lot was closing in, but the other group was much larger. At least a dozen. "Sayaka, there's too many," he called shakily.

"We just have to buy a little time."

"Maybe with Homura's pistol-" he began hopefully.

"No gunshots if we can avoid it," she reminded him. "It might draw the attention of others." Then, "Here they come."

* * *

><p>As the trio struggled across the yard, closing in on their destination, something pounced out of the manicured shrubbery dotting the grounds. A slavering maw, dripping with crimson streams of spittle, was all Hitomi saw, feeling the sharp nails of the monster digging into her skin as its filthy hands latched on to her arm. "N-NO!" she shouted, as the thing's mouth descended-<p>

Barreling into the creature, Kyousuke gritted his teeth against the sharp pain in his ankle, using all his might to wrestle the thing away from the others. "Run!" he urged, grunting as the inhumanly strong thing grappled him, pinning him to the ground. It's rancid breath washed over him, and fighting the urge to gag he continued struggling. "RU-AAHHHH!"

Sayaka spun around, her heart rate tripling as she saw the scene laid out behind her. Rushing over, she called out to Nakazawa, who made a hasty retreat from the encircling group of zombies.

"Nakazawa!" Hitomi was screaming. "HELP! SOMEBODY!"

The creature's head was pressed against the boy's shoulder, like some hideously perverted romance novella's cover. Flying across the distance, Sayaka cut at the thing with her battered sword, hearing the telltale crack as the wooden blade split in half.

Growling, the creature unlatched itself from the weakly-struggling boy below it, eyes swimming in blood and hate and hunger-

Nakazawa's bat connected with the undead skull, and the creature toppled bonelessly.

"Kyousuke!" Hitomi sobbed, rushing over.

Sayaka, blinking furiously, stood up and glanced around.

_Surrounded_.

* * *

><p>Mami scrambled with the keys, fingers shaking as she tried to insert it into the lock. The blonde wore a focused frown, using her other hand to help ease it in the hole-<em>Click.<em> "Got it!" she called out, pushing against the familiar metal door.

With a screech, it moved two inches before coming to a stop. Leaning into it, Mami began to feel the first traces of panic as the door refused to budge. She pulled it back, the pushed it in again, harder, only to encounter the same resistance. "Something's wrong! It's stuck!"

_Shit_. Sayaka glanced at the splintered remnants of her faithful practice sword, it's elegant curved form reduced to a broken, pointed stick. It was better than nothing, but not much.

Homura, breathing heavily, briefly fumbled the pistol, searching for her first target. _There are so many_-

"Homura-chan, no!" Madoka whispered forcefully, pushing the girl's outstretched arms down with surprising force. Purple eyes stared at the smaller girl in confusion. "We have to get inside, not attract more attention. Help me!" And the petite pinkette rushed forward towards the doorway.

Mami took a step back, rubbing a shoulder and ready to try and force the door open again, knowing full well that they were surrounded and out of options. With a quivering breath, she braced herself for the impact, but gasped as suddenly a pink blur was rushing alongside her. The blonde felt the door shift as the smaller girl grunted, slamming her left shoulder into the metal at the same moment as the blonde's connected. Metal squealed against tile as something shifted, then a crash and the door was open; halfway, at least. "Madoka, can you-"

Nodding, the pinkette ducked inside, holding on to her knife conscientiously. "Looks clear," she called softly from inside, and Mami wasted no time.

"It's open! Get inside!" she called, no longer concerned with noise. Half of the school seemed to be approaching them, anyway. She watched Nakazawa turn, brandishing his battered and bloodstained bat, nodding to herself. Kyousuke, supported by a terrified looking Hitomi and very pale Mazushii, stumbled through the half-open doorway. Mami felt a deep sense of foreboding, the bloodstains wet and fresh on the boy's uniform, his shoulder a ravaged mess.

When the rest had entered, Sayaka ducked inside. "Go on," Mami coaxed the brown-haired boy. "I'm right behind you, Nakazawa-kun." Without taking her eyes off the approaching horde, she backed up into the welcoming darkness.

The door shut with another squeal. _We did it! We're in! We're safe!_

_For now._

Mami glanced around, the cement hallways and storage areas cluttered with equipment and the smell of sports, boys' sweat and mustiness. Sayaka, aided by Nakazawa after a moment, picked up the overturned filing cabinet, sliding the heavy metal object in front of the door once more.

"Good thinking," Mami said, finally catching her breath. _That was too close_-

Then, she remembered. "Kamijou-kun," she began, standing up. "Are you alright?"

"No, he is NOT alright!" Hitomi raged, the quiet terror she'd endured bursting in an explosion of anger at the older girl. "You're stupid plan got him bitten! Now he's going to die, and it's all your fault!"

Kyousuke, already pale, was now white as a sheet. "Ah… I think… I think I'm okay," he tried to reassure everyone. The sharp, stabbing pains from his neck, well, that was to be expected from such a wound. He touched his shoulder experimentally, hissing.

"He'll be okay-"

"Liar! We've all seen what happens! You've killed him!"

Kyousuke looked terrified. "I… am I-"

"Hitomi!" hissed Sayaka. "You're _not helping!_ We need to clean the b-...the injury!" Sayaka said, nearly shouting. "Stop the bleeding. Mami-"

"On it," the busty blonde confirmed, kneeling over her patient. "Hitomi, would you mind-"

"Yes I would! He's my boyfriend, he needs me at his side!" Tears of anger and frustration were threatening to escape, further enraging the green-haired girl. Everything was spinning out of control.

Mami sighed. "Mazushii, would you mind grabbing the first aid kit? It should be just down the hallway, outside of the lavatory."

* * *

><p>Without a suture or even needle and thread, there was only so much Mami could do to stop the bleeding. While she applied pressure to the wound and wrapped it as best she could, Mazushii and Sayaka were wandering through the hallways, eyes open for anything useful.<p>

Nakazawa leaned against the wall, stealing glances at Homura. After a while, it got annoying. "What?"

"Huh?" The boy ran fingers through his long hair. "Oh. Just… I've never seen a real gun before."

Homura was tempted to sigh, but she realized the attraction. "You can't touch it."

"No, no," he said, waving his hands. "I'm just… curious. What, um, kind is it? Is it a… Glock?"

Homura eyed the boy, impressed despite herself. "It is. Are you into guns, too?" It was impossible to find someone who shared her interest back home.

"Well, yeah, umm…" In truth, Glock was the only type of gun he knew by name, and that was from video games and Japanese covers of urban American music.

"It's the Glock 17 generation 4, incorporating a new dual recoil spring assembly." She pulled the weapon out, smiling slightly at the boy's rapt attention. "This," she said, pointing, "is the magazine catch, reversible to accommodate my sinister nature." She looked carefully, but detected no traces of her joke being understood. "I'm left handed."

Nakazawa couldn't figure out what to say to that. "Um, what kind of bullets does it take?"

With a flick of her thumb, Homura ejected the clip, catching it in her right hand. Pocketing it, she pulled the slide back, a brass flash spinning through the air. Nakazawa watched in horror as the bullet fell to the floor, and dropped to the ground in panic, awaiting an ear-splitting boom-

The bullet bounced off the cement floor, a tiny metallic ringing barely discernible over the groans of the boy down the hallway.

"What are you doing?" Homura wondered, half-scared herself at the boy's sudden reaction.

Sheepishly, Nakazawa got to his feet. "Heh, I thought, I don't know. It was going to explode, or something…" He stopped, seeing the look on the black-haired girl's face.

"Yeah, well. They don't work like that." She walked over to the brass cartridge, picking it up. She held it out. "Nine millimeter. Seventeen rounds in this clip," she stated proudly.

"Nine… that's a powerful one, isn't it?" the brown-haired boy attempted, taking another shot in the dark.

Homura frowned. "No, not particularly. But," she shrugged, holding up a slender arm, "I can't really handle the recoil of something like a .45 or .357, and this let's me have lots more shots to squeeze off."

Nakazawa stared. "Sounds like you've… thought about it. A lot."

"Well," Homura demurred, searching for justification. In truth, packing heat gave her a thrill of power, something far more addicting that any drug. Just the thought of holding someone else's life in her hands was empowering. Not that she'd ever actually hurt anyone... "Look at what's happening out there. Tell me I was wrong to worry."

The boy was left with no choice but to agree.

* * *

><p>Sayaka, hands clenched at her side, tried to keep her eyes off the stretched-out body of her friend. His face, delicate but deep and beautiful, looked peaceful. Asleep. The breath caught in her throat.<p>

Mami saw the blunette's anguish clearly written across her face. "He's not dead. He passed out a few minutes ago."

"I… oh. Whew. It looked like…" She found the thought impossible to finish.

"Miki-san, I'm going to be honest with you." The blonde hesitated, letting the younger girl prepare herself for the bad news.

"Is he… is he going to be okay?"

Mami sighed. "I don't know. I just don't know. He's lost a lot of blood already, and..."

"And?" Sayaka knew it, knew the hateful, dreadful thought even before her mentor spoke it out loud.

"And he's been bitten. Possibly, _probably_, infected. And, if he dies… _when _he dies..."

"No," whispered the blunette, tears streaming down her cheeks. Mami watched the girl stagger back, wishing she could take some of the girl's pain away.

* * *

><p><strong>Keep letting me know your ideas on what should happen next, who should die and how, or whatever else you can think of. Thanks to all reviewers who've taken the time already, much appreciated!<strong>


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

_Awakenings_

Madoka's eyes were wide and haunted. Peeking back down the hallway, she stared at the prone figure, partially blocked by Mami's generous frame. So pale. The boy's face glimmered in a sheen of sweat, glimmering in the dull glow overhead. Mami had flipped the switch without much hope, but just as cell phones were being dug from pockets, the lights went on. It had seemed wonderful, for a moment. Like, maybe, just one thing out of everything that had happened didn't completely go against them.

And then, half an hour later, after they'd caught their breath and stilled their nerves, Kyousuke had vomited up a reeking pool of blood.

At least two people had screamed. Madoka was pretty sure she was one of them.

Now, the boy lay still, Mami doing her best to make him comfortable while the others proceeded to search through the different sections, finding tools and weapons and protection but most of all something to eat and drink.

The pinkette felt her stomach churn, suddenly nauseous.

* * *

><p>"I'm s-sorry," Kyousuke had stuttered, feeling his whole body shiver from the cold that seemed to be seeping into him from the tile floor he lay upon. "Y-you g-g-go on-n-n," he chattered, aware that he was holding everyone up now.<p>

It was strange. Just this morning, he'd been so entirely focused on the upcoming performance that he'd walked through life in a daze. The voices of his peers were merely a buzzing in his head, individuals reduced to abstract obstacles to be avoided while walking down the hallway as he rehearsed the performance in his head.

It was sometime between when the killing started and the fleeing began that his perspective had changed. During the time he'd been conscious, that is. The people surrounding him came into sharp focus, the realization of the importance of friends helping to galvanize him to action. _I broke the classroom wall!_ he thought to himself, still amazed. _What would Father say to that?_ The thought became bitter, the pain in his ruined hand, the seething ache that cut its jagged course up and down his body now doubly sharp as he thought of the stern disapproval of the old man. This is what you get for being reckless. His hand was ruined, so his career was as good as over. Everything he'd worked all these years for, that his parents had sacrificed so much for…

He sighed. So tired. Such thoughts were pointless, if not baseless._ There's nobody out there to listen anymore, anyway,_ he realized. The lack of police response, the speed at which the infection and chaos had spread, the smoke rising from burning buildings... it all pointed to something disastrous. The sudden clarity of thought he was experiencing made him feel more aware than he'd ever been before.

He focused, trying to come up with the words to express himself. He had to do it now, while he still had the chance. The artistry and expression of his talent were wonderful, but now, he realized, he did not perform for some nameless, abstract appreciation for the beauty of music. It was, ultimately, his way of bringing joy to the lives of the people he loved. It was the people around him that had made his life rich with experience.

It wasn't until that now that he'd realized how many people had played such large parts in his life, aside from his instructors. Hitomi, yes. But he realized how important his parents were as well. _I take them for granted._ The thought was vaguely embarrassing. Good old Nakazawa, longtime friend and ally. _Always there to help me out._ These acquaintances, new friends like Madoka and the black-haired transfer student whose name eluded him at the moment. Mazushii, a girl he'd known for years without really bothering to see her as a human being. _She carried me_… The upperclassman, Tomoe-san, for whom half of the school secretly harbored a crush on. And…

WIth this new-found acuity, Kyousuke felt a deep stab of regret. As a whole, he felt his life to this point had been a wonderful experience, and that he'd had ample opportunity to experience many of those wonders it held for himself. That first time playing on stage, and the last. The feel of the hallowed curves along the ancient instrument his father had nearly sold his soul for, steeped in history and the ghostly presences of those who'd held it before him. Applause and cheering, the occasional radio or television interview. The look of pride on the face of his father, and the emotion he saw displayed in the faces of those he played for.

All of that had been grand. But now, he understood. There was so much more. His one regret was Sayaka.

Long-buried thoughts surfacing in violent, vivid cascades, he recalled the good old days, before there were boyfriends and girlfriends and romance and innuendo. Back when it had just been just plain friends, and all the fun he'd had with the girl. He never stopped to consider the blunette as a potential romantic partner. His life was strictly partitioned, and he'd couldn't imagine having a better friend.

Junior high had changed things, and almost before he knew it he was dating Hitomi, who'd been one of Sayaka's best friends. It had been flattering, one of the most popular girls in class showing such interest, even as Sayaka had become increasingly awkward… but after three years, while his loyalty to the green-haired girl remained intact, the spark and sparkle had gone out of the relationship.

He needed… someone who was _different_ from him. Someone to challenge him, get him to see the world in a different way. Sayaka had always been that person, back when they'd been pretending to hunt yokai in the basement or playing samurai and ninja.

He had to tell her. "Sss-"

_It's selfish… I know…_

_...might… hurt Hitomi..._

_Have to-_

_...to…_

_So cold._

_*everything is darkness*_

* * *

><p>It was late afternoon when Sayaka heard the screaming and nearly had a heart attack. Stumbling to her feet, she almost tripped over the scattered equipment littering the floor of the room, hand clenched tightly around a meter of reassuringly solid wood.<p>

The fresh boken was one of several she'd found, although fresh was a relative term in this case. She'd chosen the least warn. All were old and battered, showing signs of having been used extensively for practice. Fully aware that her sensei would be ashamed and possibly expel her from class for the sacrilege, she'd wrapped the grip with a roll of tennis-racket tape. Slightly cushy and feeling firm between her fingers, she carried the wooden sword like a talisman, an identical one sticking up over her shoulder bobbing in rhythm with her backpack.

Running down the short hallway, Hitomi's scream reverberating through her ears, she nearly collided with Madoka, who stepped out in front of her with Homura following close behind. Careful to avoid the pair, the blunette continued her sprint.

"Hitomi!" Sayaka called, turning the corner. "What's-"

Mami was grasping the green-haired girl's shoulders, who lay over Kyousuke, shouting her grief.

No! Sayaka thought, coming to a stop. For a moment, even the screaming didn't register as the world seemed to slow down.

"Shhhh, shhhhh, Shizuki-san I'm truly sorry-"

Twisting in the blonde's grasp, Hitomi spun, her eyes wild. "You're s-sorry?" she sobbed. "This is_ your fault!_ We could have stayed where we were, back there we were safe!"

"Hitomi, you know that's not true, we had to-"

"SHUT UP, SAYAKA!" Hitomi roared, face red and streaked with tears.

"Hitomi-chan!" Madoka gasped.

"Where where _you_? You were the one with the sword, you were _supposed_ to clear us a path! Where were _you_ when Kyousuke got attacked? Why weren't _you_ protecting him?!" Pointing a finger at Sayaka, channeling all her anger and grief, she struggled against Mami's grip.

Mazushii, looking extremely uncomfortable, couldn't let that pass. "The zombie was going to get _you_, remember; Kyousuke was protecting-"

"SHUT THE _FUCK UP_, POOR-CHAN!" Hitomi screamed, turning her wrath on the brown-haired girl. Mazushii staggered, as if struck. Madoka's hands were by now over her ears, a look of unease etched across her face. Her eyes grew wide and disbelieving, watching the arm raise-

*Slap*

Hitomi's wild green eyes stared in shock. "WHAT THE HELL D-"

*SLAP*

"Hitomi-san, you must get control of yourself," Mami panted, trying to reign in her own emotions, hands clenching, palm and knuckles stinging in an unfamiliar pleasant manner. The screaming, and the blaming… pure poison. _I'm doing the best I can_. Her second slap had been more of a backhand, and the girl was weeping, face buried in her palms. "I apologize for striking you, but we must-" and at that moment, the door began to shake, the sounds of the pummeling fists resuming against the heavy metal door. "We must stay quiet."

Madoka, shaking her head in dismay, suddenly realized her sleeves had fallen down to her elbows. She took her hands off her ears, crossing them over her chest, disgusted at the filth of her attire. Rubbing an elbow surreptitiously, she looked back to see if Homura had followed, or was she still-

The raven-haired girl stared at her with an inscrutable expression, purple eyes wide. Madoka felt herself blushing furiously.

"L-let GO OF ME!" Hitomi sobbed, pushing away from Mami's grasp. The older girl tugged harder, ignoring the flailing limbs.

"Hitomi, you have to get away from him. It's not-"

"Don't tell me what to-"

The still, calm body twitched. Mami heard several gasps, one her own. "Kyousuke-kun! You're alive!" cried Hitomi in a wavering voice. Frowning, the blonde spared the girl a disbelieving glance. She had been right here with Hitomi, had seen the boy had mumbled something, then let out a long sigh which went on and on. She'd been watching, just in case, for that very thing. His body, tense with the agony of infection despite the painkillers she'd administered, had relaxed. No breath had followed, his body strangely still after the near-constant shivering. Then she'd heard what sounded like a hiss, and that's when HItomi had begun screaming.

Desperately looking at the boy's chest for signs of movement, of breath, of _life_, Hitomi felt her stomach drop as the boy twitched again. Not the graceful movements of the artist she'd loved, but a violent, awkward seizure that was over within seconds. "No. No." Long green locks twirled through the air, Hitomi shaking her head in denial.

It was then that the boy began to moan, a choking, gurgling sound emerging from it's mouth along with a vile stream of dark red fluid. Teeth stained crimson were bared as the thing pushed itself up on one arm.

* * *

><p>Red. Everything red. Even the darkness is red.<p>

_*no thoughts only hunger*_

_*then darkness*_

* * *

><p>"I'm so sorry, Miki-san. Do… do you want to talk? About-"<p>

"It's… just forget it." They were practically yelling, sound strangely distant behind the thick earmuffs Mami had insisted upon. Sayaka had an eye closed, trying to place the target in the sights, trying to control her breathing. Trying to ignore the taste in her mouth.

Mami felt like sighing, but instead leaned closer to the girl. "Rest it on something; it's hard to hold it steady enough until you've had some practice." Sayaka placed the gun on the counter, crouching down to get a better view. "Better?"

Sayaka let out a long, slow breath. Just focus.

*BLAM*

"Better," the blunette agreed. Looking down the small, three lane shooting range built underneath the building, she felt the smallest burst of pride. Her shot hadn't been dead center, but was within the first ring. Shouldering the strangely angular, almost futuristic looking rifle, she took aim and squeezed off another shot, cocking back the slide with her thumb like Mami had taught her. *BLAM* *BLAMBLAMBLAM*

*click*

"Oops, careful," the blonde cautioned. "Remember, there's only five bullets in a clip. When you hear that click… it's called dry-firing, and it can damage the gun."

"What?" Sayaka asked, feeling worried and a little defensive. "I didn't know! Did I wreck it?"

Mami smiled reassuringly, taking the rifle from her protege. "No, but it's something you want to avoid. Especially since we just have the one." Disappointingly, the staff room had been locked, and she'd only been able to retrieve her own personal weapon and ammunition. "It's my fault for not being clearer. I'm… a little frazzled."

Sayaka turned to look up at the older girl, the ghost of a smile on her lips. "I think I can relate," she admitted. She turned, blinking back tears.

Along with the lights, the little electric motors running the target pulley whirred, slowly bringing the paper target back. "Let's try another round or two. We don't have a lot of ammunition, but you're picking it up quickly. This is an excellent grouping for someone who just learned how to fire a rifle less than an hour ago! Very well done."

Sayaka, sniffling, couldn't help chuckling despite herself. "That's pretty generous, seeing as how they're scattered all over the target…"

Mami smiled back, encouragingly. She held up the target to her face. "See what I mean?" Despite the ugliness of the pattern, each hole was visible over the girl's head. "We'll go again, then it'll be Madoka and Homura's turn." Smiling, Sayaka grabbed a handful of the small brass bullets, loading them into the small clip as Mami set down the target and reached for another.

"You did the right thing. You protected us, Sayaka. It wasn't him, anymore. I can't imagine what this is like for you, but…" Mami reached out a hand, gripping the girls shoulder. Watery blue eyes looked up, not wanting to dwell on things but needing to let it out. "I'm proud of you."

Sayaka carelessly dropped the gun, staggering into the older girl's comforting embrace. Running fingers through the short blue hair, Mami held on as the girl poured out her heart and soul.

After a few minutes, pressing up against the older girl's reassuringly warm body, feeling the slim fingers running through her hair, the blunette stopped crying. But she didn't let go.

* * *

><p>"Poor Sayaka-chan," Madoka repeated. Watching that horrible scene…<p>

_Not poor Hitomi? That's interesting._ "She'll be all right, your friend is strong." Homura had been impressed by the swordwoman once again. When the body had suddenly reanimated and lunged into life, arms outstretched and moaning, the blunette had stepped up. Homura had thought Nakazawa would have been the one to do it, but the boy had stood paralyzed. Hitomi had, predictably, screamed. The sharp crack, the former boy's head splitting open… it had been what needed to be done, and the girl with the kendo sword had done it.

And then promptly vomited all over the wall. The normal contents-of-the-stomach kind, not blood. Homura had checked twice before having to walk away from the smell or risk adding her own bile to the mix.

"She liked him, for so _long_," the pinkette muttered, lost in her own gloomy thoughts. She had been unable to keep from sneaking peeks at the nearly comatose boy, watching the pallor fade from his already pale skin. Hearing what Mami and Sayaka had been whispering about. _Is this going to happen to me? To all of us?_ It was a nightmare. Madoka wasn't familiar with the empty hole in her stomach, a void that seemed to drain her energy and sap her will. The feeling of hopelessness was, for her, alien. She felt adrift, nothing solid beneath her feet.

"H-Hom-" Madoka cleared her throat and coughed, a tiny clenched fist held to cover her mouth. Briefly, she stared at her hand, as if searching for words before wiping it on her filthy clothing. "Homura-chan… I can't stand the thought… What happened to Kyousuke. Do you think… could it happen to any of us?"

Sadly, Homura gazed into the girl's eyes, twin sunrises. Or sunsets. Beautiful and enchanting, regardless. "I wish I could tell you something else, but… Yes. I think it could." She blinked furiously for a few moments, unable to keep her mind from contemplating the horror of it all. To buy time, she pretended to wipe her sport goggles on an unstained patch of her shirt. "At the very least, from what we've seen… those who've been bitten come back."

Madoka seemed to think deeply on that for some time. Just when Homura was seriously considering saying something, anything, to change the conversation, the girl turned to look at her with the most serious expression she'd ever seen. "Promise me something?" Homura winced, but the pinkette went on. "I don't… Whatever happens, I don't want to be… a danger to my friends." She couldn't bring herself to say it. One of those things. "Will you… make sure that never happens?"

"Madoka-chan, no, let's not-"

"Homura-chan, please. I don't want to be one of those things. I can't stand it, the thought of… of coming back to be a monster." The pinkette hated the begging in her voice, but more than anything else in her universe she needed reassurance on this point.. "This is important to me."

"Why me? Mikki-san or Tomo-"

"Madoka, Homura! Mami wants you in the basement," Sayaka called, walking over from the stairwell flushed with excitement. Frowning briefly at the sight of the two of them huddled together, and especially at the guilty look on Madoka's face, she shrugged to herself and forced a smile. She glanced around nervously, but there was no sign of HItomi. She consciously avoided looking at the area near the door.

"Coming, Sayaka-chan!" the pinkette responded, standing up. Lowering her voice, she tried one last time. "Because I trust you. Mami-san and Sayaka-chan… neither could do it. And… that gun you have. Please, Homura-chan?"

Swallowing, Homura nodded, looking resigned and defeated. Despite the added weight of a responsibility she abhorred, a part of her rejoiced to see some of the worry leave Madoka's expression. "But then you have to do me."

"If the time comes, I'll give you release, too, Homura-chan," Madoka assured her new friend, wondering if she could really follow through. But she had a feeling there would never be the need to follow through with her part of the bargain.

* * *

><p>Holy crap, thought Mazushii, wondering for the hundredth time if she'd heard correctly. What the two girls had been saying to one another before disappearing into the basement...<p>

_It might be our last night on earth_, she thought, unconsciously running fingers through her flat brown hair. _May as well try and grab whatever comfort you can while you still have the chance_.

Her options in that arena were down to one. But she'd always liked Nakazawa better than Kyousuke, anyway. He'd even talked to her a few times.

Feeling only a little guilty as she stood up from the pile of equipment she'd been digging through, she walked out of one of the dozen or so small rooms on ground level. As she stepped out into the hallway, her pulse began coursing a thrilling beat through her veins.

* * *

><p>A dejected Homura sat, listening to Mami and trying not to think about the future. All that mattered was now.<p>

"It will be getting dark in a few hours," Mami was saying. "I think it would be best to spend the night here."

"B-but…" Madoka began, before stopping.

"What is it, Madoka-chan?" Sayaka asked after the pause stretched.

The pinkette scuffed a toe. "Well, I… I want to try and get back to my family. If it's as bad out there as it is in here… I'm scared for them."

Mami smiled with understanding. "Always concerned for others. I understand you, all of you, must be worried about your family and friends." She paused, considering most of their friends were in all likelihood prowling the school and its grounds as unthinking monsters. "There are a lot of those things out there, between us and the parking lot. With the guns, I think we can take them out. The problem is, as things stand, we haven't been able to get the staff room open. That's where the keys to the minibus is, and without them, we're not getting anywhere."

The blonde paused again, letting the others digest this. Hitomi stared into the distance, looking shell-shocked. "Hitomi-san," Mami began, startling the other girl out of her thoughts. "Madoka-san was telling me that you have been taking driving lessons?"

Blank-faced, the green-haired girl nodded.

"And since Hitomi-chan's good at everything she tries, I'll bet she's a good driver, too!" Madoka added, smiling at the despondent girl sitting against the wall. She waited, hoping the compliment would cheer her old friend up, but HItomi didn't seem to hear.

Mami sighed. "We'll talk more about it later. For now, how is the work on that door coming, Nakazawa-san?"

"What? Oh, it's… to be honest, I couldn't get it," the boy admitted, a little shamefaced. He was the only man left alive, and therefore responsible for these girls' well-being. Pounding away on the door with his aluminum bat had accomplished nothing aside from turning his hands numb. "I'll keep working on it," he said, standing up.

"Let's keep practicing, then get some rest," Mami recommended, preferring the smell of cordite to the faintly sweet odor coming from underneath the bloody cloth draped over Kyousuke's body mixing with blood and vomit in a miasma that permeated the entire building..

* * *

><p>Panting, Nakazawa paused, pulling hair back from his eyes. He felt overheated, wailing against the doorway with the bat had made a lot of noise but produced limited results. When he heard someone walking down the hallway, he stood up, bringing up the bat for another strike against the door.<p>

"Oh, hi Mazushii." He let the bat drop; for some reason he didn't feeling like going through the charade anymore. "Sorry for the noise. I can't get this damn thing open."

Mazushii smiled, her brown hair tied back in a ponytail with a discarded rubber band. "The right tool for the job."

"What?" Nakazawa asked, confused. "Everything else is wood, or too thin, or… " He sighed, tired. "I thought, you know, metal door, metal bat… I'd be able to break it down or something."

The girl bent close to the door, inspecting the dents and dings, none of which showed much promise. "Makes sense, but maybe we could find something else that would work. Better," she hastily added.

Perplexed, Nakazawa let himself be led out of the room and down the hallway.

"Oh wow, that is perfect-"

"I found some uniforms too, a fresh change of clothes. You'd better get out of that blood-stained mess you're wearing."

"Oh, alright, I- OH! Shit, sorry, I didn't realize you were… uh… Mazushii-san! What are… oh. Oh."

* * *

><p>Sayaka deposited a pile of weaponized phy ed equipment on the ground, wishing she'd found something to eat. Suddenly, nerves taut as violin strings, she grabbed the weapon on her back, hearing something strange from the end of the hallway.<p>

The door was closed. And the most embarrassing sounds were coming from within.

Cheeks burning, Sayaka fled back down the hallway, deciding to check on the other girls' progress under Mami's tutelage.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Nakazawa recruited Mami and a crimson-cheeked Sayaka to help him lever the crowbar he'd acquired, feeling a rush of vitality as he pushed with all his might. Together the three popped the door of it's hinges with a metallic squeal.

The room was twice as big as any of the others, and held a treasure trove. Spirits began to rise as they took stock of the goodies. A mini-fridge inside contained a few bottles of tea and some nameless teacher's lunch. There was also one vending machine filled with snacks, and another with juice and soda.

"Watch out!" With a cry of delight, Nakazawa swung at the glass partition between him and the sugary food. Laughing, he and Mazushii began tossing snack after snack to the others, who then proceeded to gorge themselves on chocolate and fruit filling and cookies.

The soda dispenser was trickier. It was Mazushii who showed them how to pop the front off with a crowbar.

Despite the growing smell, they had decided to sleep upstairs. The sub-basement range had no way out aside from the stairs, and from here they could head up or down if the monsters somehow breached their way through the heavy steel door. Tactically, it made sense. That didn't make it stink any less, however.

Their greatest ally was the limited attention span of the creatures outside. Mami had taken a peek from the roof, barely three meters off the ground and feeling hideously vulnerable. The zombies outside, many more than she cared to count, wandered around aimlessly, or stood in place, swaying slightly.

By the time the sun touched the horizon, only Mami remained awake. The gentle snoring and occasional whimper were the only sounds within the concrete walls as daylight faded outside.

* * *

><p><strong>Thanks for the reviews and ideas, they are awesome and sometimes hilarious.<strong>  
><strong> Keep an eye out. As always, I'm curious what you think. Especially who'll be next.<strong>

**One down, seven to go.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: Escape, part I**

Madoka lay on the cold tile floor, staring up at the blurred ceiling of the small room, listening to the sounds of sleep. The initial feeling of safety and warmth had steadily drained out of her, seeping away as her friends had drifted off, one by one. She held out as long as she could, but the discomfort was too much and she squirmed, her shoulderblades itching against the rock-hard floor.

The movement caused a muffled snort from the figure laying beside her, a twisted heap of long black hair that the pinkette feared would be hopelessly tangled by the time they got up. It was close quarters in the teacher's office; the girl was pressed up against her legs. Madoka froze, listening to Homura give a tiny whimper in her sleep, wondering if the girl would also awaken, fleeing dreams of gnashing teeth and dripping blood-

The ceiling was not only a soulless grey, it was old, crumbling. Her arm itched, hand damp and sweating inside the padded glove, but she refused to give in to the urge. The floor was painfully hard, but at least in here, they were away from _them_. Staring up at the jagged cracks that ran up a corner and out above her head, Madoka tried to keep herself from pondering the same things over and again, feeling the panic starting to build up.

_Is Tatsuya alright? Are Mom and Dad safe?_ Her house was the most secure place in the world, at least that her mind could imagine, and her parents were the most capable people she knew. Unable to resist, she carefully dug out her phone, the glow lost in the overhead bulb that gave of an unflattering, yellowish illumination.

Everyone had agreed to sleep with the lights on.

No new messages. No surprise there. _Still no only I could call them_… Another worry. Aside from the flesh-eating undead that wanted to devour her, the service interruption was the thing that scared her the most. She'd never been out of contact with her family for so long before.

She looked around. Nakazawa lay against the wall, his head slumped at an awkward angle, by far the loudest sleeper. From a few short, crowded meters away, Madoka heard a stomach busily gurgling away, no doubt trying to figure out what to do with all the candy and soda the brown-haired boy had consumed before bed.

It had been the high point of their day; feasting greedily upon stolen snacks. Madoka had been content with a few of Sayaka's chips, but surprised herself by drinking three sodas liberated from the freezer. Suddenly feeling parched, the pinkette contemplated grabbing another for an instant before remembering the odd looks of the others as she'd guzzled the carbonated drink. Almost… disappointed. Or resentful.

"There's only so much, and we have to be careful," Mami had explained reasonably. "Who knows if the water is safe to drink? Or for that matter, if it will even be on."

Madoka sighed. She wasn't greedy. Or stupid. Just thirsty.

A crumpled mass on the floor was Mazushii, a shirt draped over her head to blot out the ceiling light. Mami's head was tilted back, sitting with her knees to her chest, up against the large desk that had been moved across the doorway. Sayaka snored softly nearby, almost in the shadow of the older girl. As the pinkette glanced her way, the blonde girl opened an eye and gave her a tired smile.

"Can't sleep?" Mami whispered softly, barely audible over the ambient sounds of slumbering teenagers. Painfully and with great care, Madoka sat up, her back and shoulders seemingly having transformed into stone.

"No," Madoka breathed, just to have something to say. Standing up in a crouch, she scooted across the wall, carefully stepping over Homura's body. _She looks so different without the glasses_, the pinkette thought for the dozenth time. Younger. Less serious. _Or maybe it's that stern expression that makes her seem older. Akemi-san is so intense!_ Carefully sitting down, she rubbed the back of her neck with a hand.

She sure has gotten attached to those gloves, the blonde thought to herself. The younger girl was obviously stiff from lying on the floor. Leaning against the desk had reduced the pain to a minimal area, although her rear felt sorely abused. "Let me," Mami whispered, shifting to get comfortable. "If you'd like." And Madoka gasped as the blonde's fingers dug into her shoulders, gently probing for a moment. A loving recipient of all kinds of tactile sensations, the younger girl settled in, having enjoyed the blonde's skillful fingers before.

The kneading went on for a moment, hands pressing firmly, thumbs digging deeply into her shoulderblades. "AHhh-"

"sh_hhh!"_ Mami implored. Nervously, she glanced around. She needed everyone at their best tomorrow. Frayed nerves needed time to strengthen. Glancing at the green-haired figure that lay facing the wall, she wondered how long it would be until one of them snapped. "So how are you, Madoka-chan?"

Light snoring and the soft buzz of the overhead light were all that broke a long minute of silence. "Mami-san, I... I'm scared." Admitting it should have made her feel better, but thinking on their situation again brought Madoka's mind back to dark places, and her heart hammered within her chest, a chill dispersing any of the energy she'd gotten from Mami's soothing touch to the infinite pit of nothingness that seemed to have replaced her heart. Twisting around, the pinkette looked up at the older girl, eyes sparkling.

_We're all scared,_ Mami thought, knowing that's what she'd say to Sayaka. Madoka, however, was a different kind of beast. She knew what the girl needed more than anything else in the world right now: reassurance. Recognizing the far-off look, the older girl gently prodded. "You've been so brave, fearless, that I didn't realize there was anything wrong. But there's no shame in being afraid, none at all. Especially now with this… What is it that's scaring you, Madoka-chan?"

The pinkette was stunned. "B-brave?" she blurted, forgetting to whisper.

Glancing around meaningfully, the blonde smiled. "Brave indeed. Who was it who saved us in the cafeteria? Yo-"

"But," Madoka whispered, frowning, "It was you and Sayaka who fought off the monsters."

_Monsters_. Mami's smile widened a fraction; it was as good a name as any. It was better, really, than seeing them as… as _people_. Former people. But they weren't sick, not like she'd thought at first. They were dead. Beyond dead, actually. "Until the lights went out." Madoka's breath caught in her throat, heart beating as she remembered the moment everything had plunged into darkness, and the sounds of the creatures approaching… Kyousuke on the floor, in the doorway, the thing reaching out- "Madoka!" An edge of concern sharpened Mami's voice. "It's okay, it's over. It's okay now, we're safe. Thanks to you!"

Madoka tried to breathe, staving off the sense of panic. Gasping, she tried to banish the thought from her mind; the mad dash, bursting through the doorway, taking on that monster about to bite Kyousuke with nothing but a knife from the kitchen-

"Shhhh. It's okay. You're okay," Mami consoled, patting the girl's back. "You're better than okay, you're a _hero_, Madoka-chan! Your brilliance and courage are what saved us in there," Mami continued, feeling the younger girl's ragged breathing and trembling begin to ebb. "Thinking to grab your phone, you're a genius! Although," Mami added playfully, leaning back and looking down with one eyebrow cocked skeptically, "I'm surprised that you even had your phone with you, given the strict 'no phone' policy of our beloved Mitakihara High-"

The pinkette's eyes bulged in indignation a second before she interrupted in a whispering denial. "I, no, it's not like that. We went to our lockers, after getting out of the classroom! I wasn't… wasn't breaking the rules, Mami-san! Stop it, it's not funny… it's…"

Mami tried to contain her urge to giggle, but was helpless to prevent a dazzling smile that seemed to force itself up from inside her. She watched as the other girl's face began to light up with humor as well. "Madoka-chan, you're almost _too _good."

The blonde's mood was infectious. Pink eyes batted playfully. "To be true?"

"That, too." Mami grinned, shaking her head. She didn't want to get into the details of her own worries at the moment, but… suffice it to say, they were in all likelihood about to enter a completely different world than what they known for their entire lives. She didn't want to spoil the moment for the adorable, innocent girl bursting with compassion and a sheer joy for life. But neither could she bear the image of the girl lifeless, or worse, one of the shambling monsters outside.

"Madoka, this might be hard for you to understand, but…" Mami sighed, the noise louder than her whispers. "Breaking the rules… it's not always wrong. Sometimes, it might be the only way."

The pinkette looked confused. "The only way? I'm not above a little bending of the rules now and again, Mami-san. Remember in junior high when we had to swim in that nasty pool?" Mami nodded, remembering the pool rather more fondly. _That was the year things began to take off for me_… "I signed a fake doctor's note, _forging _my mom's signature, so I didn't have to do it!" The pinkette grinned proudly, staring up at the blonde hopeful for approval.

Mami only half-heard Madoka's story, caught up in a familiar swirl of ancient memories. _Until the accident_.

Swallowing, the blonde continued, the quaver in her voice adding seriousness to her words. "What I'm saying, Madoka-chan, is that we don't know what's out there. It's possible that, well, that there's _nothing_. No government, no authority… no one in charge, keeping order. If that's the way it is… what I want you to remember is the most important rule." She paused, mainly for dramatic effect. It worked, the pinkette stared at her with bright eyes, hanging on her words. "Survive. There are no other rules."

"No rules?" _What does that even mean?_ the pinkette wondered. "I don't..."

"This isn't a game; we won't get any second chances." Mami hurried on, noting the pinkette's obvious discomfort. "Nobody, anywhere, is prepared for anything like this. There's _you_, and _us, _and everyone else… and _them_. Hopefully we'll find people who are willing to help, but…" the blonde considered. "Soon, it will be every man for himself. Nothing but the law of the jungle. Human nature being what it is, well… when things break down, the rules that allow us to live together in such tightly packed clusters are the first things to go."

Through a fog of misery, something flashed across Madoka's thoughts. "Is that what this is? A whaddayacallit, a… cluster fuck?"

Mami stared for a moment, at a loss for words. Madoka felt her ready grin begin to die inside, the look on the blonde's face frozen with shock.

And then she'd begun to laugh. As the pinkette watched, the older girl's body shook uncontrollably, her breathing a series of quick gasps and held-breath in an attempt to stifle the mirth that threatened to explode out from inside her. Tears streaming from her eyes, Mami looked down at the pinkette, whose smile looked uncertain even through her wavering vision.

"Oh, Madoka-chan. You are always... such a surprise." Mami heaved a breath and let out a long sigh. She glanced around, making sure her outburst hadn't disturbed any of the sleepers. She tried to look thoughtful. "I suppose that's exactly what this is. We're getting it from all sides."

"Getting what?" Madoka asked, innocently. "What exactly does clust-"

"What's important," Mami interrupted hastily, "is that we're aware of the dangers we're walking out into. There's staying alive, and there's dying. And undying, now, I guess." Mami shrugged helplessly at the pinkette's dismayed expression. Channeling some of her dwindling reserve of Inner Resolve, Mami forced herself to grin, reaching out and gripping Madoka's shoulder with a comforting hand and giving the smaller girl a little shake. "You're _tough_, Madoka, tougher than you give yourself credit for. I saw it, we _all _saw it, shining through today. These people," she gestured to the sleeping forms, "are going to need to depend on you, and I don't doubt you'll come through for them." She breathed easier at the pride that washed across the pinkette's tired, pinched features.

"For you too, Mami-san. For all of _us_," the smaller girl corrected. The glow slowly dimmed, and Madoka's mood once again became somber. Mami saw the new sense of determination behind the pain, and smiled to herself, until Madoka turned to her. "I don't want to die. But most of all… I don't want to be one of _them_."

"I know you don't, Madoka-chan. None of us want that. We'll get through this, as long as we stick together. Help each other out. You're not going to die, Madoka-chan. I won't let you."

The younger girl buried her head in the blonde's shoulder, weeping quietly. Mami held her tight. Within minutes, the pinkette had fallen asleep, her head cradled against Mami's chest. The older girl continued to absently stroke the unbound pink hair for some time until she, too, succumbed to exhaustion.

Outside, the dead did not sleep.

* * *

><p>Morning in an un-windowed room was a relative thing. Sayaka drowsed in and out of consciousness for what seemed like forever, not wanting to be the first to get up and break the spell. Lying there half-asleep, her thoughts were comfortably numb, hazy and unreal. It felt so good, not to worry about <em>them-<em>

The realization was like being doused with ice water. _They're_- She got up painfully, desperately searching for the comforting grip of her weapon. Fingers found what they sought, closing in around the padded grip, reassuring and solid. Something she could hold on to in this nightmare. _Is this just a nightmare?_ she wondered for a split second. Glancing around, she saw her friends and classmates. The sense of panic dissipated, until she realized someone was missing, recalled what the bokken had been used for yesterday. The battered wooden blade was clean, but all too easily an image began to form of it dripping red, and worse worse-

_Kyousuke!_

Despair washed over her, a tide of woe that left her prickling with sweat and anxiety. _This is all wrong!_ Her stomach squirmed, painfully. Several of the others had begun to stir; Mami blinking adorably from next to her, eyes sleepy and half her face red from where it had been pressed up against the desk. Homura rolled over, her arm stretching out as if searching for something before the tangled mass of raven-colored hair began to rise. Hastening across the small room, Sayaka stepped on Mazushii, wanting to apologize as the girl sat up with a cry but knowing if she let her mouth open for even a second-

The door slammed shut as Sayaka practically dove into the small bathroom, and the six others could do nothing but look at one another in pity and uncertainty at the blunette's pitiful retching and sobbing.

* * *

><p>"It's time to get up, ladies and gentleman." Mami's sing-song voice elicited a few grumbles. I'm going up top to check things out," the blonde stated confidently, trying to ignore the sullen, tired faces that confronted her. "We need to-"<p>

"We need more sleep," muttered Nakazawa just before his head tilted back, jaw opening wide to give a great yawn. Annoyed, Mami fastidiously covered her mouth with a hand, unable to contain a yawn of her own in reply. She wasn't the only one, either.

The blonde glanced around patiently. "We only have so much time; it's already past eight. We're wasting daylight." Someone grumbled. "We can't stay here, not unless you think we can live off the snacks from that one machine."

"And one toilet. _Without _properly functioning plumbing." Mazushii's voice had no malice, but Sayaka felt herself blushing furiously. The stench of vomit had permeated the entire room.

"I want to go. I need to find my family," Madoka piped in, looking haggard but resolute, the dark smudges underneath her eyes contrasting alarmingly with her pink hair.

For the first time since waking up, Hitomi glanced over at the group. "I want to find mine as well."

"That is our goal, and isn't something we can accomplish holed up in this deathtrap," Mami began, instantly regretting the choice of words as she noticed the horrified expressions of Madoka and Hitomi. "I mean, it's alright, temporarily, but we need to get moving."

"Your plan?" Hitomi asked, a faint trace of derision in her voice.

"Madoka-chan, how about passing out breakfast?" Mami smiled encouragingly, and the pinkette hastily passed out an assortment of frosted cakes and pastries liberated from the emptied machine, along with a can of warm soda, fumbling a bit in the heavy gloves she had taken to wearing at all times. Madoka was careful to make sure everyone received a flavor they wanted as Mami continued. "We finally got in here yesterday, thanks to Nakazawa's efforts-"

"Mazushii found the crowbar!" the brown-haired boy interjected, giving his counterpart a nod as he cracked open his cola, which immediately fizzed over. Homura cursed, dodging away from the foaming mess that plopped to the floor.

"Oops, careful. Thank you, Mazushii-san, and well done finding these clothes!" Mami smiled, tugging at the short skirt, part of some ancient uniform. "Not only did we get some food, if you can call it that, and some high-calorie drinks completely devoid of nutrition and guarenteed to etch holes in your teeth. We also got…" the blonde shook her head, giving the magnificent curls a bounce as she let the tension build. "Ta-da!" she cried, holding out several jangling rings of keys.

"Now, we have a way of getting out of here. _This _key," she explained, "opens up the vault downstairs, where we'll find some extra rifles and lots of ammunition, as well as the kind of supplies we'll need to keep the firearms functioning. Remember, how we cleaned and oiled up the rifle yesterday?" Watching Madoka and Sayaka glance at one another guiltily made the blonde chuckle. _Plenty of time to learn, girls_. Certain she had at least Homura and Nakazawa's undivided attention, she pushed onward. "_These_ keys go to the school vans, which we can use to get away from here! Now, all we need to do is find a way to get us safely from here to the parking lot."

"There weren't all that many of them out there, yesterday," Homura mused, recalling the important details of their surroundings. North was the school; the loading dock jutting out from the east. The perimeter fence ran around the structure, three meters of chain link separating them from the parking lot beyond.

"There's only the one entrance-"

"We can climb a fence-"

"Wire cutters! Did anyone see any? Bolt cutter, tin-snips-"

"Hold it!" Mami roared. The multitude of voices died, and the blonde took a deep breath. "Thank you. Great ideas, but let's save them for after we get a look at how things stand." She gave the group a dazzling smile. "I'm going up on the roof. I need two of you flanking this door when I open it," she stated, pointing to Sayaka and Nakazawa.

"You think… maybe they got inside?" Madoka asked nervously.

Mami shrugged, starting to get used to the gesture. "I doubt it, but from here on out our motto should be '_better safe than sorry_.'" Mami smiled encouragingly before putting one hand on the doorknob, the other firmly gripping an old wooden bat bristling with nails. "Ready? One, two…"

* * *

><p>Sayaka stuffed her portion of the snacks into her backpack's side pocket. All the wrappers had been removed at Homura's insistence. "No sense trying to be walk around sneaky if your backpack is crinkling and crumpling every time it shifts around." The others had remained unconvinced until Mami had agreed with the idea. So Sayaka knelt on the floor, stuffing chocolate bars and assorted candy into the pocket as carefully as possible, trying to ignore the angry green gaze that flashed her way as the others got their stuff together.<p>

After a few minutes, she couldn't take it anymore.

Walking over to Hitomi was the one of the hardest things Sayaka had ever done. "Are…" she began, watching the green eyes that spun to glare at her warily. "Are you alright, Hitomi-san?" For a moment, she thought the other girl might not answer.

"What do _you _think?"

Sayaka's mouth hung open, uncertain. The accursed tears were back, blurring the world yet again. She swallowed. "No. I wouldn't be. I'm _not_." She gave a weak grin, but got nothing for her trouble. Sighing, she went on. "I'm sorry. Really. I know how close you were-"

"_Really?_" Hitomi's voice dripped venom. "You're sorry. Well, I hope that relieves some of the guilt you must be feeling. And don't even pretend like you're going through anything like what I'm feeling! You had barely spoken to him in years, you weren't even friends anymore-"

Sayaka felt like she'd been hit. "Wha-? I was, I was his friend-"

"Back in middle school! When's the last time you went to one of his concerts? When's the last time you sat down and listened to all his problems, his worries? When's the last time you showed the slightest interest in him as a human being?" As the blunette took a step back, Hitomi's voice rose, her face jutting forward aggressively. "Did you even know about his dad? How sick he'd gotten-"

"What? His dad? Sick?" The patriarch of the Kamijou family had always been robust, a driving force propelling his son ever forward, always on to something bigger and better. "No… I didn't… he never mentioned…"

"Hard to really know someone when you can barely spare them a word while passing in the hallway. But then, you never had the courage to admit to your feelings. Or your failings."

Sayaka frowned, eyes pinched with hurt. "That's not fair-"

"Fair!? You were jealous! And you took it out on Kyousuke!"

"I… it wasn't me that… look, you were always-"

"Ha! There it is. I wondered when you'd get around to blaming me for everything, Miki-san. He used to talk about you. All the time. Back when we first started dating." Hitomi's voice was low, angry. "I never understood what he found so interesting about you. But that was years ago. He outgrew you, Miki-san. You've lost a memory of a friend who you'd abandoned; I'm the one who lost the love of my life!"

Sayaka wiped at her eyes, struggling between anger and sorrow as the green-haired girl zipped up her bag and stormed out of the room, stopping in the doorway for one final stab. "I wish it had been you."

* * *

><p>Mami's face was grim as she delivered the news.<p>

"Last night, it seems…" she paused, trying to find a delicate way to break the news.

"Oh no, we're surrounded?"

"Mami-san, are they out there? How many?"

"More? Don't tell me there's more!"

"Something even worse? Vampires? _Dragons?_"

Mami blew out an exasperated sigh. "Please,everyone, calm yourselves. First of all, there is no such thing as dragons, Akemi-san."

"So… you're saying there are vampires?" the transfer student responded.

"No. For god's sake… And we are _not _surrounded." _Not exactly,_ the blonde amended to herself. "There are, however, more of them around-"

"I knew it!"

"Yes, well, we're going to have to revise our plan a bit." Leaning over the desk, the blonde pointed to a meticulously drawn map of the area. In particular detail was the long line of fence that ran around the entire grounds, and the single entrance to the parking lot, adjacent to the loading dock. "There are too many roaming around on ground level; all of us will never make it past them. So, I'm thinking that instead of trying to run to the vans, we'll bring the vans to us."

"Huh?" "Um-" A few brief glances of confusion were all the response Mami would allow.

"Once we have everything together, two of us will get over the fence." She pointed to where the fence ran along the edge of the bunker. "It's barely two meters from the roof, and nearly level."

"We could jump that easily!" Sayaka grinned, feeling confident.

"Let's not be hasty," Mami cautioned. "There's a three meter drop onto pavement on the way down. Even a single sprained ankle could end in dea-... disaster."

"There's a ladder, in one of the storage rooms," Homura said breathlessly, a plan forming in her mind. "We could use it like a bridge, walk across."

"Yes, exactly the kind of think I was thinking," Mami nodded, throwing the black-haired transfer student a rare smile of approval. Despite herself, Homura felt her cheeks grow uncomfortably warm. "Well done, Akemi-san. Stay with us in the real world." Mami turned to the lone boy, gleefully ignoring the transfer student's sudden frown. "Nakazawa will help you get it up top."

The brown-haired boy gave a long-suffering sigh.

"You _are _the man, after all! Time to use those muscles," Mazushii laughed, gripping the boy's upper arm with both hands. Their eyes met, unnoticed by everyone but Sayaka, who felt distinctly like she was intruding. Nakazawa smiled weirdly, almost a smirk, and stood up with much more energy that he'd been displaying a moment before.

"Not just yet, listen to the rest first," Mami implored. Poor addle-headed boy. "We'll use Akemi-san's ladder to get across, carefully climbing down the other side. The first two-"

"Why not just cut through the fence?" Hitomi asked, not excited about the prospect of climbing.

"Because… _they're_ down there." Mami waited.

"What do you mean?"

"Those things, well, most of them are spread out across the grounds. But theres a few that have, um, set up around us. So there wouldn't be time. We're safe in here," she assured, seeing the frightened faces and unable to show her own. "It just wouldn't be safe, going out the door. Nothing's changed; it's the same idea as before. In fact, hopping the fence provides another barrier between us and them."

"There were some in the parking lot." Mazushii didn't bother phrasing it as a question; she knew they wouldn't have gone away. If anything, danger only ever seemed to increase during the past twenty-four hours.

The blonde nodded. "There still are. Not very many near the vans, though. The area where they unload the supply and delivery trucks, though... There's no fence at the loading dock, down by the lot entrance, so it's possible if they're alerted they'd be able to follow you in."

"And who is _you_?" Nakazawa asked, already knowing the answer. Mami had two keys for two vans, and there were only three people in the group who knew anything about driving.

Mami hesitated. "What we need is to get those two vans as quickly as possible. Nakazawa, Hitomi and I are the only one's who know how to drive. And now is not the time for a beginner's lesson." She glanced at the named students. "Would you two be willing to go out there? Get the vans and bring them back?"

"Why us? Why not you?" Hitomi asked, feeling trapped. Backed into a corner. Nakazawa shot her a warning look, running fingers through his lank, greasy hair to get it out of his eyes.

"Well, someone is going to have to keep your path clear." Mami mimed shooting her fingers like a pistol, giving the pair a wink.

"Why don't we all go, at once?" Mazushii wondered. The blonde shook her head at the puzzled glances of the others.

"Follow me." With that, she lead the group up the short ladder, up and out the access panel that opened on to the roof.

Sequentially, each student would reach the pinnacle, gasp in shock, and slowly work their way off the ladder, allowing the next in queue to do the same thing.

"I thought… we weren't surrounded," Nakazawa gulped.

The sky was overcast with a thick pall of clouds, dulling the color of the grounds, negating what would have been the sparkle coming off the immense glass walls of Mitakihara High.

The crystalline structure was a charnel house, a series of chaotic brushstrokes applied by the frenzied hand of a madman, crimson brown and spread across the entire campus. From thirty meters away, the detail was vague but horrifically suggestive. Hand prints, pressed against the filthy glass, bleeding rivulets in tiny streams, collecting at the bottom. Smears and streaks from shredded fingers and blood-soaked faces, splatter and arterial spray from victims of the day before.

And everywhere, the shuffling, shambling forms of the dead.

Torn clothing hung raggedly, open wounds and limbs were drenched in a dark wetness that seemed to glisten in the early light. The creatures walked about purposelessly, looking almost uncertain. Dozens and dozens were scattered across the grounds of the back of the school, lone walkers and clusters of six to twenty roaming about at random.

Mami pointed at the grounds, then down. Kneeling, she bent her head towards the others, who followed suit. "There's too many inside the fence." She pointed again, this time behind them. Homura frowned. The parking lot held at least twenty of the monsters, but they were spread out across the large area. Immediately, she began contemplating the dangers presented by all of the cars parked throughout the area, convenient hiding spots for ambushing undead. And the gate to the street was closed. Which was a good thing, unless-

"We'll put that ladder across there," Mami whispered. "We need to have people up here, providing you cover, especially from those things at the loading dock catch wind of you." Partially out of sight, several of the walking dead had been spotted near the concrete dock, looking just as lost as the rest of them had. "We clear you a path. You bring the vans back to us. We throw the guns and the supplies across, get in and then drive the _hell _out of town. As soon as-"

"After we check on my family, right?" Madoka asked innocently.

"Right. Right. After we check on all of your families, we hit the highway and it should be clear sailing. The Mount Kyouji training facility is only a few short hours away." Mami looked around, meeting every other student's eyes with her narrow, golden gaze.

Sayaka's heart wrenched in pity, somehow totally aware of how much pain the blonde was in. Everyone knew about the star student's family tragedy, but until now the blunette had not seen her elder react with such wretchedness. It was somehow uplifting, to feel bad for someone, empathize with their pain, when it was completely unrelated to their current situation.

"Sound like a plan?"

Sayaka nodded determinedly, heading back to the ladder.

* * *

><p>Nakazawa ran fingers through his increasingly greasy hair, drawing it out of his eyes. Not quite long enough for a ponytail; he was determined to find some kind of hat. Or maybe a bandanna.<p>

"Nakazawa?" Hitomi's voice wavered; the girl's stern look had been replaced by something much more anxious and unnerved. Her chest rose and fell rapidly.

"I'm ready," the boy replied. His heart was hammering away in his chest. _At this rate, I'll be exhausted before I even get to the parking lot._ Everyone was depending on him. Including HItomi.

"I'm glad you're coming, Hitomi-san." The girl finished tying her long green hair back, staring at him with an assumed blankness unable to mask the terror in her eyes. "We're going to be heroes, you and me. This will be nothing; with Mami covering our butts, well, you saw her shooting downstairs. Nobody I'd trust more."

"With one of those guns, maybe. Do you trust her to make decisions, decisions that are life-or-death _for us_? She'll be safe here, while we're out there getting chased by the living dead!"

"Well, the gunfire will draw most of their attention, so by remaining behind, inside the fence, they may well be in just as much danger as we are-"

"Kyousuke-kun died because of Tomoe-san's last plan. I just don't have any confidence in her." When the boy failed to immediately agree, Hitomi frowned. "Who's side are you on, anyway, Nakazawa?"

Nakazawa stared at the pouting face for a long moment. "Hitomi-san, you gotta stop."

"What?" Green eyes opened wide. "I don't-"

"Stop that shit, come on, _please_. You know it wasn't Mami-san's fault he died; in fact, you saying that tarnishes his memory, since he died trying to save you. Can't you just take that and, I dunno, not be happy I guess but… be satisfied? He's a fucking hero, and I want to remember him that way. Not as what's underneath the blanket out there. He wouldn't want you to take it personal. Mami-san's trying her best, and so far it's been pretty damn good." The boy sighed, blowing strands of hair out of his field of vision. "I trust her. I think you should, too. If we're not in this together… we're dead. There's no side, Hitomi-san. If we want to live, we need to get the hell out of the city. We need to help each other if we're going to have any chance at all."

Hitomi took one last shot. "Even working together, we still seem to end up dead."

Nakazawa shrugged, feeling very tired all of a sudden. "That's all the more reason to cut the crap and get your head in the game. We're playing for keeps, and our lives are literally in each other's hands. I'm going to look out for you when we go down there, and I need to know you're doing the same for me."

Green eyes stared at him, somehow both angry and thoughtful.

* * *

><p>On their way down to the range, Madoka noticed the care with which Sayaka avoided looking at the crumpled mass that still lay by the main door to the building, even as her own nose wrinkled with distaste at a mysterious foul odor. <em>What is that?<em>

The blunette had followed in a daze, not gathering herself until they'd reached the basement storage room with the large, metal lockers that looked more like safes.

Homura, bouncing on her toes in excitement, set about opening up the three cases with the key Mami had slipped to her at the bottom of the stairs. Her glee had quickly fled upon opening the gun cabinet. Taking out one of the rifles, she glanced at it disparagingly. "What a piece of junk."

"Now now," Mami cooed, trying to dispel the palatable disappointment radiating off the black-haired girl. "Beggars can't be choosers, after all."

"Mami-san's right," Sayaka agreed, taking one of the rifles for herself, surprised at its heft. It looked nothing like Mami's gun; no sharp angles and futuristic lines. It looked like a beat up old gun.

Putting it to her shoulder, she felt the thing try to drag her arm down. "It's pretty heavy," she commented, suddenly uncertain.

"They're training rifles, alright? Function over form. Just be thankful they're not the old bolt-actions." The girls watched the statuesque blonde inspect the lot, pulling three from the pile. "These look to be in the best shape."

"How do you know, Mami-san?" Madoka asked, looking up from her spot on the floor. At her feet were scattered every rifle magazine they could find, her fingers working busily at sliding bullet after bullet into the clips. The tips of her gloves were soiled black.

Mami worked the slides of each of the guns. "That's the easiest way; if they're not maintained a gun will often feel… sticky." She looked down at the pinkette proudly. "How's the loading going, Madoka-chan?"

"Oh great," Madoka confirmed. "Almost got them all filled up."

"How many boxes of ammunition are left?"

Madoka glanced behind her. "Four of the big ones. That's like…"

"Two thousand bullets," Homura helped.

"Wow, that's a lot," murmured Sayaka, impressed.

"It seems like it, but you'd be surprised at how fast it will go." Homura remembered all to well shooting off hundreds of dollars worth of ammunition at the range back in the States.

Mami grinned, feeling confident with their new acquisitions. "I think that should be plenty, Akemi-san." She headed back upstairs, leaving the other three to finish up the packing.

* * *

><p><strong>Apologies for the long wait. Next part should be quicker. As always, I love to hear your thoughts. Thanks for the reviews, I <em>promise<em> next time there will be zombies.**


	9. Chapter 9

**_Chapter 9: Escape, Part II_**

Heart pounding, Nakazawa stepped onto the ladder with one foot, the other remaining safely on the roof. _Careful man careful!_ He glanced down, and was startled to see one of the monsters directly below him. He froze as the creature turned its head, revealing a face half-shredded, the yellow-white skull showing where forehead, ear and cheek had been literally torn away, a hanging mass of flapping tissue below its chin the only relic of the right side of the former student's face. The gore-stained zombie's head rose, and blood red eyes seeming to search. "Shhh-" _iiiiiiit_, Nakazawa finished to himself, not daring to move.

"What's-" was all Hitomi was able to whisper before the boy turned back, waving a hand behind his back frantically.

The figure below let out a gut-wrenching hiss, pausing for a long moment before it lurched forward, continuing on it's way. Barely breathing, Nakazawa waited until the figure had moved around the corner, heading back towards the main building. Shakily, he gave a thumbs up, and stepped across the ladder.

It held. The most frightening thought had been the thing buckling, sending him down to the feeding ground, all alone. Straddling the long beams rather than making his way across on the rungs, Nakazawa waddled across to the edge of the chain-link fence. He was careful not to place any weight on the part of the makeshift bridge that jutted out beyond the metal pipe running along the top of the fence as he crouched, readying himself.

Glancing back, he saw Hitomi working herself up for that first step, the huddled figures behind her crouching down, a quartet of gunmetal barrels bristling from atop the the roof. A pink flash caught his eye, and Madoka gave him a quick wave, her face lit up with an encouraging grin but obviously concerned. Below, the areas was free of zombies for fifty meters. _Easy_. Reminding himself to breathe, Nakazawa carefully slid a leg down, digging in the toe of his shoe before hopping off, wincing as he felt the metal of the wire dig into his fingers, surprisingly sharp. The fence shifted under his weight, clanging gently against the iron posts.

Three tense seconds of climbing and then he was down. Spinning around, he double-checked the area, backing up into the fence. Heaving a sigh, trying to control his racing pulse, Nakazawa waited impatiently for Hitomi to reach the edge. A shadow stretched across him, and he looked up to see the green-haired girl holding his weapon with both hands. "Here it comes," Hitomi stated, dropping the crowbar sideways. With a desperate grab, the boy fumbled his catch and the echoing sound of the clanging, clattering bar of metal on the pavement was practically ringing in his ears as he lunged and recovered the weapon just in time. Pulse spiking, eyes shifting around with hyperactive, paranoid awareness, he hefted the crowbar in both hands, waiting for HItomi to finish climbing down.

To their right, he saw a dozen misshapen figures lurching across the parking lot between their position and the gate leading toward the road. Across the lot straight ahead, beyond the rows of cars, a classroom-sized swarm of the things could be seen shambling aimlessly. Beyond that, outside, indistinct shapes were moving along the perimeter, popping in and out of view as manicured trees gave way to immaculate lawns and back again.

Another clang, this one reverberating like a steel wave crashing against a cymbal, caused Nakazawa to jump, barely holding back a curse. Hitomi dropped down, looking scared out of her wits, the whites of her eyes giving her a crazed look. After glancing around to make sure nothing had decided to give them any undue attention, Nakazawa held out a fist. "Here we go," he whispered encouragingly. When Hitomi just stared at his knuckles, he gently punched her shoulder and took point.

Hitomi had the presence of mind to take out the long, awkward knife that Mami had required her to bring. Unlike Nakazawa, it did little to increase her sense of security. Now she was worried about the undead _and _accidentally stabbing herself. She checked her pocket, making sure the keys were there for what felt like the hundredth time.

That, at least, was something she could do. Hitomi clamped down on slithering, gut-twisting feeling that had been her constant companion since everything had gone wrong. She was sick of feeling useless.

A hundred meters of lot stretched out before the pair. It wasn't _that _far. Nakazawa kept telling himself that as, slowly, the two crept across the pavement, steering well clear of the row of parked vehicles. Homura's instructions and warnings had been too graphic for them to regret.

Halfway to the objective, Nakazawa stopped, pointing.

Hitomi, tried her best to control the breathing that sounded ragged and incredibly loud to her ears. She crouched down even lower, squinting. Through the chain fence running along their left side, she saw the roving packs of undead in the distance, wandering around the main grounds. From this perspective, they were like a solid wall of hideous, twisted faces. She turned slightly, and-

"Oh fuck me," she muttered, drawing a surprised look from Nakazawa. The gate between the parking lot and the school was closed, but the fence that separated the grounds from the loading dock had fallen… or possibly removed. Empty, skeletal piping ran along the contours, but the mesh of the fence itself lay on the grass.

The fence wasn't going to protect them-all those dozens, maybe _hundreds_, of flesh eating monsters had a direct route right into the parking lot.

"We have to go back," Hitomi began shakily. "Once those cars start-"

"This might be our only chance," Nakazawa responded in a whisper. "We'll be quiet; they won't even know we're there-"

"Nakazawa, please, we should at least check-"

The brown-haired boy hesitated for a second; there was almost nothing he wanted more than to go back, get out of this open area with the swarming undead and hole up somewhere nice and safe. But something inside goaded him onward. "Hitomi-san, there's no time. Mami-san and the others are watching over us. I'll go ahead, we can make do with one van. You head back."

"I… no. I'm going. _With you_," she clarified, feeling irrationally annoyed by the look of surprise and gratitude on the boy's face.

Nakazawa flashed the green-haired student an encouraging smile, holding out his fist again. This time, with something like a resigned glower, Hitomi bumped knuckles with the boy, feeling utterly ridiculous as the gesture melted away some of the anxiety.

Silently, the two crept forward, going down on hands and knees as a creature on the other side of the fence wandered too close.

Thirty meters from the vans, the pair caught movement from their right, and froze as a dripping, shambling wreck rose up from between two small cars. A bubbling gurgle issued from its mouth, and the thing began to advance across the pavement.

* * *

><p>"Uh oh, trouble," Sayaka whispered, staring down the telescopic lens Mami had installed on the three "best" rifles they'd recovered. <em>They'd been doing so well!<em>

"Oh no oh no oh no-" Madoka breathed, feeling helpless as she clutched her gun. She knew she would never be able to shoot… how could she be sure she wouldn't hit one of her friends?

"I see it," Mami answered.

"Should we, um, engage?" Sayaka asked.

If the situation hadn't been so dire, Mami would have flashed the blunette a glance of disappointment. "Miki-san, this isn't a game. Don't start talking like Akemi-san. Nakazawa is bad enough." The younger girl had the decency to blush, knowing full well where she'd picked up her new vocabulary.

Homura shrugged, going back to her finger-warming exercises as she aimed down the barrel of her gun, lining up the target.

The figure continued to approach the pair, who stood frozen. _We can't start shooting yet, they're not close enough!_ "They'll handle it," Mami said confidently, keeping the thing's head in her crosshairs all the same. As soon as they started shooting, all Hell was going to break loose… best to wait for as long as possible.

Somewhere, hidden deep down in an inner oubliette of her soul, something inside Mami purred at the hesitation. So long as they hadn't drawn the monsters' attention by firing, they would remain relatively safe, even if the pair outside were torn to shreds.

"I have faith in Nakazawa," Sayaka declared, pointedly leaving out her old friend. Mami blinked, hating herself for a moment

Madoka drew a ragged breath, nerves tingling with dread and anticipation as the creature lunged at the would-be-drivers.

* * *

><p>"Oh shit, oshitshitshit we gotta run!" Hitomi's voice shook with terror, fingers clenched nervelessly around the pathetic-seeming knife that shook in her hands. "We gotta go back-"<p>

The thing's mouth opened, its remaining teeth dark red and glistening wet. Hitomi turned around, looking back at the outbuilding they'd come from. Three meters of fence seemed a lot higher from ground level.

For a second that had stretched into a small eternity, Nakazawa had stood transfixed. He'd frozen, an instinctive reaction to the approaching menace. As if, by standing still, the creature might overlook him. But as his heartrate spiked and the creature lunged forward, he realized it was now or never. If the thing got off a scream... Holding the crowbar in both hands, he brought the hooked end down on the creature's skull with all his might, watching in amazement as the steel bar pierced through the head right at the temple, ripping off a good portion of the thing's face as the momentum carried it through.

Hitomi stifled a shriek as bits and pieces of _something _along with a horrifying wetness splashed across her face. "Naka-*HULG*" It was _in her mouth_, she could _taste it_-

Panicked, the boy raced over to the gagging girl, wiping at her face with his sleeve. "Sorry, I'm sorry, just don't-"

*hucc-_huuuurgl_* The green-haired girl desperately fought against her stomach, but was forced to admit defeat as the liquid remnants of her sugary breakfast erupted out of her mouth in a wet stream, spattering upon the black pavement.

* * *

><p>"Oh no," Madoka murmured, choking down a sympathetic nausea the sight had inspired.<p>

With alarm, the blunette shifted her gun to and fro. "Mami-san, they're coming. The ones at the loading area, they're-"

"Get ready, girls," Mami commanded, sparing one last glance around the grounds before settling in, checking that her ammunition was close at hand. There were far too many of the zombies roaming about the grounds for her liking. "Keep your ammunition close, and be ready to move once the vans get here."

_And if the vans don't get here?_ Mami frowned in consternation. They couldn't stay here, there were simply too many undead classmates wandering about. Nobody else had any brilliant ideas; this was the only way to get out. It was a dangerous, all-eggs-in-one-basket attempt at the only shot they had.

Tomoe Mami's stomach churned with anxious dread, the responsibility of six lives weighing heavily upon her own.

* * *

><p>Even as Hitomi emptied her stomach, Nakazawa noticed movement from ahead. A few, then a dozen, then even more shambling figures came into view. The mixture of undead classmates and maintenance staff slowly but purposefully began heading in their direction from the loading dock's open door. Glancing around, trying to get a picture of what was going on in every direction at once, the boy noticed others, beyond the fence and back towards the school. They had turned, a half-dozen gore-encrusted faces homing in on him, staring with those alien, blood-red eyes, turning toward the parking lot with a lurch and shuffling in their direction. Others instinctively began to follow. "Oh no, not now," he muttered, pulling at the girl's arm. "Hitomi-san, we have to go!"<p>

Gathering herself as she wiped a sleeve across her mouth, Hitomi swallow the bile that once again threatened to forcibly climb up her throat. The honor student stumbled wretchedly after Nakazawa, hustling directly for the white school vans that were tantalizingly close now, ten strides and they'd be safe-

It was only three steps before she knew they'd never make it in time.

"Nakazawa, those-!" She skidded to a stop as the approaching figures blocked their path, the front ranks of which had begun to stagger forward more eagerly. The green haired girl stared at the creature in the lead, unable to tear her gaze away from its dripping maw. One of the things let out a long, low moan, picked up in a chorus of unholy, guttural noise.

_Any time now, Mami!_ "Go, get the van," the boy whispered urgently, wiping sweaty palms on his pants as he transferred his blood-soaked weapon from one hand to the other. "I'll hold them off, we gotta get out, now!" He gave her a push. "Go!"

Hitomi took a step forward, watching the horde approach. There were at least twenty that had poured out of the delivery area, a thin, staggered line of dead-white flesh, faces and fingers encrusted in brown, flaking blood. It looked more like a hundred, an army of the damned things. The ruined uniforms were a mockery of everything she'd ever held dear. A thrilling sense of determination swept through her, and she readied herself.

Nakazawa smiled savagely as he brought the crowbar across, taking the leading zombie down with a wet crack. The thing struggled to rise, and he brought the straight end down on the back of its skull with both hands. Behind him, Hitomi dashed forward, heading for the vehicle. The brown-haired boy had time to take another step forward, this time burying the sharpened hook into the top of the next monster's head, before stumbling back, retreating from the increasingly dense pack of monsters.

_Well, you got their attention. Now what?_ The next swing only glanced off one of the creatures, and the boy staggered away to avoid the filthy clutching fingers.

* * *

><p>Hitomi clawed at the door handle, sweat-soaked fingers refusing to obey her adrenaline-soaked mind. With a reassuring click, the door popped open and the honor student leapt inside, slamming the door behind her, shivering with tension. She looked around, and then panicked, spinning to inspect the back seat.<p>

Nothing. She breathed a sigh of relief as she fumbled with the keys with shaking fingers, readying the ignition but taking a moment to get her bearings before turning on the car.

She glanced over just in time to see Nakazawa stumble before the mass of groping arms and grasping hands that followed him.

* * *

><p>"There's so <em>many-<em>"

"Get ready." Mami waited until Nakazawa was safely in _her _fire zone before giving the order, aware of how devastating an incident of friendly fire would be to the group. Then the boy had tripped, and action was required. "Light 'em up," Mami said through gritted teeth, not having the time to feel chagrined at her use a phrase she'd learned from Homura.

Mami had designated herself as Right, Sayaka Center, and Homura Left, each denoting their field of fire. Madoka was "backup," which meant she held the gun that would replace whoever's jammed or suffered a catastrophic failure. She sighted in the creature closest to the retreating boy, watching his desperate swing have no effect on the beast as it lunged-

Finally, Nakazawa was out of the way. _Krak, Krak._

Two of the shuffling bodies went down, going boneless mid-stride. The brown-haired boy kept his feet, head swiveling in confusion. Madoka, hands over her ears, watched in horrified fascination as dozens of heads all across the grounds swivelled towards her, seeming to stare straight in her eyes. A stare of raw hunger, of horrible crimson death and pure animal determination. Madoka shuddered, a chill of dread coursing down her spine.

Then, in nearly perfect unison, they began to move toward the gunfire. Toward them.

_Krak. Krakrak._

Each shot was like the snap of a whip, followed by a faint, distorted echo a half-second later, a sound almost as if another gun was answering from the school building. The three girls unloaded their first salvo, the loud snap of shots punctuated by moaning as the shooters paused to reload.

Mami revelled in the calmness that had descended over her consciousness, zen-like, as she found target after target, lining up gore-spattered heads and ruined faces in her crosshairs, shot after shot until she had to look up, picking her next series of targets while her fingers found the next magazine and loaded it into the rifle with practiced ease.

Over the course of the first twenty seconds, the area immediately around Nakazawa became free of the walking dead, instead littered with corpses. The boy, showing more sense than Mami thought possible, took advantage of this and sped off towards the row of school vans.

Despite their success, and the feeling of empowerment that came with watching body after body fall, killing the zombies wasn't as easy as she'd hoped. Unless the shot was dead on, or aimed at a particularly weak spot like an eye or the temple, the small caliber bullets occasionally seemed to have no effect. Through her sight, the blonde saw a dark furrow traced across the forehead of a hit-but-unkilled target, the bullet deflected by the skull, leaving a trail of exposed bone rather than smashing a hole through it. She flicked her thumb back, loading the last bullet in the clip, firing less than a second later. The creature fell, first to its knees, almost as if in supplication. Mami had ejected the empty magazine and tapped the fresh one in by the time the finally-dead figure slumped to the ground messily.

Sayaka grunted in frustration. It seemed like every shot she took was off, too few of the creatures were dropping. Glancing over, she saw the calm confidence of Mami as the girl fired shot after shot, the creatures dropping one after another like so many sacks of meat. Homura's face was absolutely blank, the tip of her tongue sticking out from between her lips as she fired off another round. For an instant, a look of primal glee lit up the black-haired girl's pale features, a wicked, satisfied smile before blanking again and she began looking for her next target.

As the girls had both paused to reload, something caught Sayaka's attention. Shakily, she took a step toward the edge of the roof, then another. Her heart pounded painfully in her chest. "Uh oh," she whispered, glancing down in the direction of the school.

A solid wall of zombies lurched forward to join the press of a dozen bodies already surrounding the small building. Gore-covered arms grasped at the walls, trying to find purchase. "Mami-san, there's tons of them all around us-"

Eyes narrowed in concentration, Mami loaded another clip, already running worryingly low. "Sayaka-chan, I need you shooting! Mazushii-san, Madoka-chan, watch the ledge. They're still out of reach. If they start to get close we'll have to-"

"Mami-san, that one's reaching up!" Madoka interrupted, for once not feeling bad about interjecting.

"But we're three meters up…" Taking her eyes off Nakazawa for a brief moment, the blonde spun her head to glance around the perimeter. As did the other three girls on the roof. Sure enough, an arm was up over the ledge, the shredded fingertips clawing for purchase.

"They're getting up!" Mazushii foretold, not liking the situation one bit. "Kaname-san!" she implored, pointing to the girl's unused gun. The pinkette held it up and gladly relinquished the weapon, much to the brown-haired girl's surprise.

Mazushii shrugged, taking the weapon and carefully propping up her spiked bat against the pile of backpacks, ready to be tossed down to the vans. Sparing a quick glance back at the parking lot, she saw a lone figure dashing towards a white van, the pavement thick with the bodies of fallen monsters. The shots continued to crack across the grounds, more shapes in the distance falling to the ground.

"I'm almost out already!" Sayaka shouted in dismay, her ears ringing from the constant salvos of the past minute.

"Madoka-chan, give us your reloads!" Mami ordered, also starting to run low. _There are so many! _She turned to find the pinkette, and froze as she saw the first of the monsters' faces rise over the ledge. _How the hell-_

_Krak! Krakrakrak!_ Mazushii placed the long barrel close to the zombie's face before pulling the trigger, finding another and another. "They're climbing over each other!" she shouted back, the increasing numbers of undead pressed tightly against the base of the building, allowing those that followed to ascend over them. The image reminded her absurdly of a crowdsurfing scene from some music video, except these figures scrambled madly over the tops of the bloodstained masses, making their way towards the roof with a kind of slow-motion, manic persistence. Instead of hands being held up in support, they were reaching forward, groping and clawing, eager to grasp something living.

To the left, one of the things was getting close. Mazushii stepped lightly, placing another bullet between the eyes of a target from an arm-length away.

* * *

><p>Nakazawa wiped the sweat from his forehead, amazed at his luck. Or the shooting the girls had laid down. <em>Probably a combination of the two<em>, he reflected, the creature's claw-like fingers still fresh in his mind. Warily eyeing the spaces between parked cars, he dug out the key and approached the second van.

"Finally," Hitomi whispered to herself. She started the vehicle up, and for a moment the crack of gunfire was overshadowed. Immediately, she saw creatures begin swiveling in her direction.

* * *

><p>Mami finished off the clip, taking down two figures that lurched towards the van that Nakazawa had entered. "They're in! They have them!" Mami shouted, amazed despite herself. The plan had seemed solid, but the last few minutes had been pure-<p>

"Help!" Madoka cried.

Mami spun around, ejecting the magazine with a finger even as the new one was being brought up. As it snicked into place, her golden eyes widened in shock and horror.

It was _so _much worse that she'd imagined. A seething tide of the monsters was lapping all across the side of the bunker that faced the school. Mazushii's brown hair fluttered in the breeze as she shot at the approaching undead, barely able to stave off the advance.

Homura had spun around at the cry, searching through the iron sights for a target. The last two minutes had been the most intense of her life, watching monsters fall in the wake of her lead stream. Seeing the threats materialize all along the rooftop, the transfer student gritted her teeth and began lining up shot after shot.

Sayaka watched the two vans pull out, one after another, heading right towards their building. "They're com-" she began, but stopped mid-sentence as she turned and saw the clamboring zombies getting up to the rooftop. Cursing, she dropped the gun and grabbed the bokken which lay close at hand, rushing over to her pink-haired friend.

Mami and Homura began firing upon the creatures, the sound of the shots infinitely louder to the girls caught in front of the barrels. Ears ringing, Sayaka dashed over to the edge, slicing down with the wooden sword at the nearest creature. Looking down, she felt a moment of vertigo as the untold number of undead who'd pressed against the building looked up at her with their dead, crimson eyes. She looked over at their blonde leader, desperate to communicate their situation. "There's too many! The vans are here, we gotta go!" Even in her own ears, the voice sounded dull and far-off. Mami answered back, but the blunette was unable to hear what she said. Taking a moment to chop down on a approaching zombie's head, she spun her weapon and then abruptly stopped it, flicking off the blood and other vital fluids.

Out of the corner of her eye, Sayaka saw a flicker of movement. Glancing back, she saw Madoka pointing at her, wide-eyed and as pale as a ghost, her mouth going a mile a minute but still unheard thanks to the lingering ringing in the blunette's ears.

Spinning around, what she saw made her heart stop.

* * *

><p>"YES!" Nakazawa slammed his fist into the dashboard. <em>I made it! We are going to make it! <em>He followed Hitomi closely, the vans slowly churning their way across the area of the lot that was suddenly bumpy and uneven thanks to a bounty of corpses.

Looking around, he saw the monsters coming at them, loping across the lot, drawn by the noise or motion. He gasped, barely braking in time to avoid slamming into Hitomi's rear end. The thought made him burst out into nervous laughter. You're losing it, man! he chastised himself, trying to stifle the giggling.

* * *

><p>Mazushii grinned fiercely, finally getting the feel for wielding the rifle. At this range, it was hard to miss; the problem was there was very little margin of error. She stayed two strides from the edge, keeping away from the pale, dead hands that reached up over the side.<p>

Something drew her attention, and she glanced over to the others. The ringing in her ears from the continued gunfire made it impossible to make out what the girls were shouting, but their horrified expressions were all to clear. Homura was aiming a rifle right at her, Sayaka dashing forward but pulling up short, and Madoka and Mami just stared-

Spinning, Mazushii cursed as the claw-like hand clenched around her. Several figures were upon her, scrabbling across the rooftop after having made it up the opposite side of the building. WIth one brief, calm moment of clarity she felt the sharp, jagged tips of bone that had once been fingertips close around her ankle. _This is it._

But then animal instinct kicked in. _I'm not gonna die!_ With strength borne of frightened rage, she lashed out, the heavy metal barrel slamming into the arm that had latched on to her. The second reached her at that moment, slamming into her. Screaming, Mazushii felt herself pulled down, falling helplessly as cold, tearing fingers began to rend and tear-

"Sayaka, no!" Horrified, Sayaka hesitated. All over the rooftop, the undead had begun climbing up over the edge. In the span of seconds, when she'd first noticed the breakthrough, ten or more of the things had surrounded their classmate. And she'd stopped. Stopped. She had to try and save-

"EVERYONE GET OFF THE ROOF!" Mami screamed, emptying her last two shots in the creatures nearest to the group of survivors. She reloaded, then began grabbing the backpacks and duffel bags, tossing one after another over the fence into the parking lot.

"B-but-" Madoka began, raising an arm to point at the pile of creatures atop Mazushii.

"GO! GOGOGO!" Mami's voice was shrill, and her hands shook as she tossed another bag.

Blinking back tears, Sayaka backed away, most of the living dead content to struggle over their classmate. There's just too many… sorry, Mazushii-san.

"Sayaka, get across, now. Madoka, you too." As the pair made their way across the metal ladder spanning the roof and the fence to the lot, Homura joined Mami at the edge, unloading her last clip. Two of the three advancing zombies dropped, but the blonde struggled to insert her next magazine with shaky hands, the last lunged forward in a sudden burst of speed, it's torn hand reaching out to grasp long, thick curls.

* * *

><p>Mazushii felt the creatures invading her, screaming and gasping and struggling but for nothing. As she'd fallen, it had seemed so certain the others would save her. Rescue her. But the creatures had driven that hope from her mind as their claws dug into her flesh, searing pain and the wet flood of blood becoming the entirety of her world. Something stabbed into her belly, and kept stabbing, further and further and she could feel the fingers inside, gripping and tearing but helpless and unable to move under the weight of the undead that clutched and tore at her.<p>

And then, for the briefest instant, she'd caught a glimpse of the others, mid-howl. Running away. Disappearing. Leaving her. Her wide, pain-crazed eyes latched on to a dispassionate purple gaze, and Mazushii was overcome with hatred and revulsion for the lucky transfer student before the pain dragged her back down into her own personal hell.

* * *

><p>With a scream on her lips, Mami saw the descending face of the monster explode in a shower of brain and bone. It fell, taking with it a good chunk of her hair.<p>

Mami shook with fright and relief. "Homura…" she began.

"Go," the transfer student had demanded, holding her gleaming pistol with both hands. The blonde blinked, startled by Homura's tone. "I'll cover us."

"O-okay," Mami gasped, latching on to the idea.

Homura glanced around, gauging distance. She gave herself two seconds, aiming carefully. Since she'd met the quiet, reserved girl, the transfer student had found her to be something of a kindred spirit. Even though they'd never really talked, the poor, determined girl had seemed like someone she could have gotten along with. If she had been the kind of person to get along with people to begin with.

_Goodbye, Mazushii-san. I wish I'd have gotten to know you better._

Homura pulled the trigger. Twice, just to be sure.

* * *

><p>Mami descended from the ladder, keeping Homura in sight, paranoid of further disaster. She was startled at the activity as she hopped off the fence. Sayaka and Madoka were frantically throwing bags and backpacks into the waiting vans, both drivers wearing looks of terrified impatience.<p>

Homura hopped backwards, dancing across the ladder. Mami's breath caught as the girl seemed to trip at the end, the makeshift bridge kicked back from her feet as the black-haired figure made a leap from the edge. She landed squarely on top of a van, sliding down over the windshield and nearly giving Nakazawa a heart attack in the process.

"Hitomi and I are going to clear the gate!" Mami shouted, getting into the front left seat of first van. Hitomi grasped the wheel tightly, her breathing rapid as she glanced from window to mirror to Mami. "You drive around the lot, try to keep them from us as best you can!"

"Got it!" Nakazawa confirmed, hearing the comforting sound of doors slamming. "Here we go!" He tore off, turning sharply and getting an earful of curses for his trouble.

* * *

><p>Speeding toward the closed gates two hundred meters away, Mami leaned out the window, rifle braced against the side-view mirror. "Hold it steady, Hitomi-san," she urged, lining up one of the several zombies shambling about near the exit.<p>

_Krak_.

Miss, or at least not a clean hit. Immediately, every creature in the parking lot began turning toward the speeding van. _Damn_.

_Krakrakrak_. "Hitomi, slow down," she growled. "I can't-"

"You shoot, I'm driving," Hitomi growled right back, pressing down harder on the accelerator. The minibus jerked forward, the distance to the gate already halved.

There were still four up; too many for them to unlock the gate. Dozens of the creatures filled the lot, some chasing after the other van but a worrying number closing in on her. The final shot hit one, but the creature merely staggered for a moment before stumbling toward the sound.

Even halfway out the window, her body went about the business of releasing the clip, slamming another in it's place, and drawing back the bolt in a unconscious economy of motion that hinted at long hours of training.

Krakrakrak. "Please, HItomi," Mami half-begged, half-demanded.

Furious green eyes seemed to burn into her mind as the girl glanced over. "Don't tell me-" And then something lurched in front of the vehicle.

"Watch out!"

HItomi screamed, jerking the steering wheel to the left to avoid the creature that was suddenly reaching out towards her from what seemed to be mere inches away. Mami let out a shrieking curse as she felt the van wobble, lifting her up in the air, sickeningly weightless. Panicking, Hitomi jerked the wheel in the opposite direction.

The wobble reversed itself, and then kept going; Mami saw the ground rise up to meet her as the top-heavy vehicle slammed onto its side.

* * *

><p>Madoka gasped. "No!" whispered Sayaka.<p>

The girls stared out the window at the screeching trail of sparks followed the overturned minibus as it slid across the pavement. It slammed into a row of parked cars, and instantly the scene erupted in a cacophony of noise, a blaring horn mixing eerily with the dissonant staccato of a car alarm.

Drawn by the sudden noise, the fence between the parking lot and the school grounds quickly became a solid line of pale, dead flesh as the zombies turned, as one, to the epicenter of the chaos. Everything in the parking lot itself had stopped and begun to approach the wrecked vehicle.

_Mami!_ Sayaka felt numb. And, flitting around in the back of her mind, despair so thick it threatened to overwhelm her. _What do we do now, if she's hurt?_

* * *

><p>"Oh shit. No, what the hell man?" Nakazawa's voice was shaky, disbelieving. "They're everywhere!"<p>

He was right. Hundreds… hundreds of blood-stained figures had begun pouring out of the building, around the sides, through the broken fence. A wave… an _ocean _of undead that seemed to swallow the entire grounds. As the ear-splitting noise continued from the parking lot, the creatures moved past the outbuilding.

They ran into the fence, arms grasping and clawing at the wrought iron. Scattered groups began to coalesce, growing into a conglomerated mass of writhing, struggling monsters, all intent on reaching the wailing siren and blaring horn.

"What are we going to do?" Nakazawa asked, overwhelmed by the sheer numbers. Mazushii was in there!

"Omygod!" shouted Madoka, pointing. "Look!"

Following her gaze the others glanced at the smashed vehicle laying on it's side. The driver's side door had opened, straight up into the air. Holding her breath, Sayaka waited, but nothing emerged immediately.

The thought of the girls in there, trapped and possibly hurt, galvanized her into action. "Change of plans," she shouted over the noise. "Nakazawa, get us to the other van. You've got to be ready to go as soon as I give the signal."

The boy looked confused. "What? Signal? I don't-"

"JUST GO!"

Brown eyes narrowing in concentration, Nakazawa put the pedal to the floor, speeding towards the overturned van and the blaring horn and incessantly wailing car alarm. Sayaka gripped the door with white knuckles, the sword ready in her other hand. "We don't have much time," the blunette muttered, seeing the awkward, shuffling gait of the dozens and dozens of zombies that were descending upon the noise from the west half of the lot. Sparing a backwards glance, she ignored the shell-shocked expression of Madoka and stared at the trail of undead that followed in their wake, the walking river of hunger thankfully falling behind them as the vehicle sped across the pavement.

"We don't have any time," Nakazawa corrected, seeing several of the figures reach the vehicle.

"Don't," Sayaka warned. "I'll hold them off, someone's gotta get on top of that van, get them out of there. They could be injured, or unconscious." Nakazawa started to slow, approaching the wreck far too quickly for Sayaka's tastes. She swallowed nervously, tightening her grip on both the bokken and the door.

"What if they're dead?" Homura shouted over the rapidly increasing noise. "They're pouring into the lot, we don't-"

"Homura, enough!" Sayaka shouted. "Get ready!" She watched the other girl frown. "Please. I need your help." The blunette's meek voice was too faint in the clamorous noise, but Homura looked sad for a moment, giving the stunned pinkette a quick glance before nodding tersely. The car came to an abrupt, screeching halt as Nakazawa slammed on the brakes. The vehicle jerked forward, two seperate, violent lurches as he pulled right up alongside the wrecked van.

Sayaka cringed at the hideous noise the vehicles were emitting, the sounds grating against her already-strained nerves. She was happy to see Homura exit the vehicle even as she stepped out, scanning the nearby targets. The windshield of the van was spider-webbed with cracks, hiding whatever lay inside. With single-minded determination, she focused on a zombie in a groundskeeping uniform, rushing forward and bringing the wooden sword down over her head, the momentum snapping the thing's head back.

The noise was deafening. Glancing around, she saw the transfer student climb her way up onto the van's angled hood, prying her way up to the roof. Just beyond, the driver's side door remained open, tantalizing with its potential. "Come on, Mami-san!" Sayaka roared, her words ripped away by the wailing noise. She lunged forward, poking a creature in the chest and pushing it back, using the bounce-back to swing the sword up and then around, coming in low to catch the gore-faced monster's leg and dropping it to the ground. Even as it fell, she side-cut its head, the chop staving in a portion of skull. She danced back, sensing other creatures approaching.

Sure enough, two figures shuffled out from around the van, inhuman faces staring at her with hatred and hunger. She glanced up for an instant, seeing Homura bent over, reaching into the ruined vehicle. Hurry up hurry up hurry up!

Feet sliding across the pavement, Sayaka lined herself up so the two approached her single-file. Darting in, she knocked the grasping hands down before bringing the wooden blade up diagonally. The dull edge impacted the side of it's head, just above the dead crimson eyes. The creature staggered to the ground, causing the trailing zombie to stumble.

The two were not classmates. They were nameless, faceless enemies who merely happened to be dressed in soiled versions of her school uniform. Sayaka drew upon the last of her reserves, steeling herself as she slammed her weapon against the second creature's head, three sharp whacks that resulted in the thing's demise, slumping to the ground on top of its fallen companion with a head split like a melon, wet and red and greenish-grey. Still more were approaching, and glancing back Sayaka felt a stab of panic as the main concentration of the undead; the one's they'd been trying to kite across the parking lot were nearly upon them, barely thirty meters away. Like a parade, or the shopping center on a Saturday afternoon. A horde measuring in the hundreds.

She reversed her grip and stabbed down, the pointed wooden tip easily coring the head of the creature at her feet. Panting, she backed up, trying to see what else was coming from behind the screaming, wailing van.

Homura was moving. Mami- Sayaka's heart froze. The shattered windshield was stained, brownish-red in the day's overcast. Something wet and dark seeped from beneath the upturned vehicle, and suddenly her heart had stopped as she caught the unmistakable golden blonde glimmer, long wisps trailing in the breeze, fluttering out from beneath the smashed van.

A battered, angular rifle lay on the ground nearby. Dazed, Sayaka walked over to it, picking it up-

"MIKI-SAN!" someone was screaming in her ear. Sayaka felt herself be tugged backwards, stumbling. "WE HAVE TO GO!" She was shoved, roughly, into the back seat, the door sliding shut with a slam.

"But…" Sayaka looked around, seeing the wide, scared pink eyes of her best friend, the impatient look of the boy in the front, and the hunched-over form weeping behind a cascade of tangled, green hair. Homura looked back from the front seat, flustered and unnerved. "Where's Mami?"

"Where's Mazushii?" Nakazawa demanded. "And Mami? We can't leave them…" Madoka, in the back seat, burst into wailing sobs, feeling more wretched than she'd ever thought possible.

"The zombies are right outside," Homura stated firmly. "We have to go, now-"

"Where's Mazushii?"

"We can't leave Mami-"

"They're dead! DEAD!" Homura screamed. "AND WE ARE TOO UNLESS WE GO, NOW!"

"D-dead-"

"NAKAZAWA, GET US THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!"

Something slammed into the rear of the van, a solid thump against the trunk. Nakazawa blinked, uncertain whether it was the concrete reminder of the vast number of undead approaching them or the intense purple eyes that seemed to bore into his own that snapped him out of it. Blinking back tears, the boy shifted gears and sped forward, pulling away from the van, the blaring alarm and horn warping from the doppler effect.

"The gate," he muttered, not quite a question.

Fuck it. Homura had no idea how to open it, anyway. It looked worryingly solid, but as options died off, sometimes you were only left with one possibility. "Ram it." And then, for the benefit for those in the back seat, she yelled "Everyone hang on!"

Forty meters until the fence. Thirty. Twenty. Nakazawa avoided several of the creatures that had been approaching from that direction, but saw a dozen or so standing outside the gate, clawing between the sturdy-looking metal bars.

He glanced at Homura, for a split second. The girl had time to whisper something, Nakazawa frowning at her words. "I'm sorry."

Grimacing, focusing his pain into rage and that rage onto the creatures standing between them and freedom, Nakazawa braced himself against the steering wheel, forcing his eyes open as the gate seemed to rush towards him.

Everyone screamed as the van slammed into the metal bars, a violent impact followed by a horrible grinding crash.

* * *

><p><strong>I'd like to reiterate how much I enjoy your comments; I hope I'm not neglectful in addressing the various wonderful ideas and suggestions and predictions, but I feel like I'd give too much away. That said, I love your thoughts. Please keep enlightening me.<strong>

**Regarding alternate universe stories; indeed, characters could potentially vary wildly, given different circumstances (and ages). I try to keep at least a kernel of the character recognizable, thanks to those of you who've pointed out when it's working and when it's maybe not.**

**If you find yourself waiting for something, all I can ask is be patient. It might happen. You never know.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

_Heading Home_

The van slammed into the wrought-iron gates at over forty kilometers an hour, and the occupants were thrown about upon impact. Madoka, securely buckled in, watched helplessly as Hitomi flew forward, her head slamming into the ceiling. Nakazawa was screaming curses from the driver's seat as the vehicle lurched up and down, several jarring bumps hinting at something underneath the vehicle.

Homura forced herself to open her eyes, bracing herself against the dashboard in the front seat. The first thing she noticed was the brown-haired boy's white-knuckle grip, her eyes flicking to the strange, almost scary look on his face. Something caught the transfer student's attention out of her peripheral vision and she tore her gaze away from Nakazawa. Immediately, her purple eyes widening with terror. "Watch OUT!"

Grunting, Nakazawa clenched the wheel, refusing to take his foot off the gas as the van burst through the gates, driving over multiple zombies that hadn't been thrown clear from the impact. Tires screeched, searching for purchase as the van rocked alarmingly to one side, a tree materializing right in front of them and Homura screeching in his ear-

The passengers in back were tossed around again as the van made a sharp, heart-stopping turn. "Careful!" Madoka cried shakily, trying to help out but feeling overwhelmed by panic and despair. Even in the fright of the moment, her mind turned to Mami, and Mazushii, both gone. Kyousuke, too. The thought haunted her, even through the terror-induced adrenaline rush she was experiencing in the back seat. She reached forward, trying to get to the struggling form of Hitomi, but she was pushed back into her seat as the vehicle spun again, accelerating.

Sayaka held on to the door handle tightly, liquid azure staring at nothing as she was flung to and fro, her body limp and defeated. People were talking and screaming, but none of it seemed to penetrate the strange fog that had suddenly descended over everything.

"WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING!" Homura roared, lunging across the center console to grasp the steering wheel with both hands. Nakazawa gave her a sour look. "Slow down, you're going to get us killed!"

"I'm getting us away from them, you ungrateful-"

"None of us will be feeling any gratitude if you flip us like Hitomi did."

That calmed the boy down. Breathing heavily, he eased up on the gas, each fraction of a centimeter requiring a surprising amount of inner resolve. Flexing his fingers, he realized he was shaking.

Looking in the rear-view mirror Nakazawa saw a nightmarish scene, a horde of hundreds of shambling forms that had descended across the school parking lot. As he approached the turn into town, he saw the great wave of undead flesh burst out of the broken gate, a rippling tide of inhuman hunger following in their wake.

"I'm s-sorry," someone mumbled in the back seat.

"Hitomi-chan!" Madoka cried, unbuckling herself and helping the green-haired girl off the floor.

"I'm… s-s-soooorry." Shaking, Hitomi laid her head on the pinkette's shoulder, something that hadn't occurred in years. Madoka patted the girl's back as she began to sob.

"What happened?" Homura asked, voice firm as she turned to look into the back of the van. "How did-"

"A-accident…"

"What _I _fucking want to know is what the _fuck _happened to Mazushii?!" Nakazawa interrupted, his voice harsh with anger. _Fury_. Homura looked over at the driver, suddenly worried at the wild cast of the boy's face.

Nakazawa's teeth were clenched tightly, so hard she imagined hearing them grind together. The tendons on his arms stood out, his entire body tense, like a coiled spring. Red-rimmed eyes stared out, blinking furiously as he drove out onto the city street.

_It's beginning to add up. First his friend, and now Mami-san and Mazushii. I'm not good at this_, the transfer student lamented. She glanced back, but Madoka was occupied with Hitomi, and _Sayaka… _didn't look like she'd be much help. _We'll all be choking on the bitter taste of despair in the days to come_, she thought. _Something I'm all too familiar with. But these other… pampered children_... "We're away," Homura commented. _That counted as a success, didn't it?_ Nobody seemed to pay her words the slightest heed.

"_Well? _What happened-" Nakazawa insisted.

From the back seat, "S-s-sorry-"

"Shhh, it's alright, Hitomi-chan-"

Homura swallowed. "We're _out_. Away from the school," she clarified, talking louder than she'd intended but getting everyone's attention. "Nakazawa-kun, nice driving." The boy's brown eyes glanced at her, suspicious, but saw nothing but sincerity. "Really. You got us out. Ramming those gates…" Some of the aggression left his gaze, and he shrugged. Needlessly, she pushed at the perfectly positioned corrective sport goggles, held securely by a strap that was beginning to itch. "I don't know if I could have done it."

First one block sped by, revealing another. The roads were eerily abandoned. An occasional car lined the wide residential streets. "We… that was tough, incredibly… difficult. But… We're out."

Catching on, the pinkette agreed from the back seat after swallowing the lump in her throat.."I thought… with all the zombies at the gate…" Madoka shuddered theatrically, holding back a sob and attempting a blurry-eyed smile. "Hitomi-chan and Nakazawa-kun are heroes! You two were amazing!"

Cold blue eyes blinked, unnoticed, narrowing as they stared out the window. Everything seemed to have gone grey.

Nakazawa felt a small flame of pride burst inside his chest, but it was immediately quenched by the emptiness he felt within, hollow and black. "Not all of us got out. Seriously, Akemi-san. I need to know. What happened to her, and to Mami-san?"

Hitomi, who'd quieted briefly, began crying again.

"We were swarmed, on the roof," Homura began. "After we started clearing you two a path, they pressed up against the building. There were so many… they climbed right over one another." Homura shook her head. "Even Mami-san hadn't anticipated that. We were trying to hold them off… they got around, came up the other side of the building. She was… they grabbed her before we could do anything."

The boy's white-knuckle grip shifted as the steering wheel turned, heading down a road away from the school. He wanted to get as far away from that cursed place as possible. "So… they got her?" His voice broke, a little sob escaping at the end at the thought. _Just like that? It's not fair._

Madoka's eyes were so filled with suffering that Homura's heart felt like it would break right there. Clearly the thought was killing her inside. Steeling herself, Homura shook her head once, flipping back some errant hair that had slid over her shoulder. "No," she said, quietly.

"What… what do you mean?" Nakazawa asked, suddenly hopeful.

Desperately, Homura glanced into the back seat, her expression heavy with a sudden guilt. Madoka stared deep into the black-haired girl's wide, fearful eyes. The pinkette's own gaze compelled Homura to go on, to explain what she meant. The transfer student shuddered and looked away.

"She was… I couldn't… I couldn't let her suffer, like _that_. It was too late. She was bitten, I mean, she was… badly wounded." Throwing the pinkette an apologetic look, seeing the girl's pain, Homura sputtered out, and a tense silence descended over the vehicle as it sped past another block. Nakazawa's shoulders were tense with expectation, face inscrutable as he stared ahead. Madoka's eyes filled with a horrible look of hope. Homura took a deep breath. "I sh-"

"What's _that_?!" Sayaka asked suddenly, becoming aware of something strange and unsettling.

An increasingly harsh clunking noise was coming from underneath the vehicle. Nakazawa glanced at the dashboard, as if something there might explain the problem. "It doesn't sound… normal."

The clunking was accompanied by a faint, high pitched humming whine. Driving in silence, the students listened intently to the noise. Homura looked down, surprised at the small gloved hand laid across her own, clenching the headrest tensely.

For a moment, the purple-eyed girl was lost, a great sadness interspersed with islands of joy and admiration threatening to drown everything else out. Losing herself to that sense of wistful yearning, a deep pent-up need that she realized would never, _could _never be fulfilled, yet remained so attractive a haven for her thoughts… even now, perhaps _especially _now, with the world gone to hell. But the noise persisted, and the future was fraught with danger. Madoka was real, here and now, and she'd enjoy as much of her friendship as fate decided to allow. _First things first._ "Where are we going?" Homura demanded, suddenly businesslike.

"How should I know?" Nakazawa responded defensively, pointing backward with a thumb. "Away from all _that _shit."

She looked in the back seat. They were five terrified kids again; Homura was beginning to realize what a blow Mami's death had been. "Madoka-chan, you still want to check on your family, right?" Barely waiting for the pinkette's nod, she turned to face forward once again. "We're going to the Kaname's place. Turn left up here."

Nakazawa gave her a funny look. "You know how to get there?" Sayaka asked incredulously from the back seat, her inner turmoil dispelled by several startling implications.

"Just… drive, Nakazawa." Ignoring the blunette's suspicious look and the boy's amused chuckle, she tried to remove the glower from her face as she turned back to the others. What they needed, now, was a goal. Something to focus on. For the moment, at least, the choice seemed obvious. "We're heading to Madoka's first. The van must have been… damaged, or something, when we ran through the gate. Or the zombies. Anyway," she continued hastily, seeing the look Hitomi and Madoka shared, "we have to be ready to abandon this thing." She glanced around, amazed at the emptiness of the streets. There were no abandoned vehicles, burnt-out or otherwise, nor were there shambling packs of the living dead or the torn remnants of their unholy feasting. Another block blurred past as the van sped down the road. There wasn't even the refuse she'd expected. The sky had begun to darken ominously, roiling clouds looming over the entire horizon. A plume of smoke rose up in the distance far behind them.

"It looks… pretty clear," she admitted. "But we need to be ready to take what we have and go. Speaking of which," she pointed in the back. "What do we have in here? I remember throwing stuff into vans, but in all honesty I wasn't paying that much attention to detail at the time."

Hitomi had recovered enough to aid the pinkette in rummaging around. After a few moments, Madoka looked up mournfully. "There's one gun. The others, and most of the bullets, were with Mami-san." The pinkette's breath caught. "T-there's some b-backpacks. N-not mine, though." The last was said with a whimper.

"Any other weapons?"

"Just what we're holding," Madoka stated regretfully.

"That's all we need," Homura answered with false cheer. She couldn't bear to see the girl like that. Conscious that the engine had begun to make a peculiar grinding, clattering noise, the transfer student looked again towards the blunette, who had resumed staring blankly out the window. "Miki-san? Are you okay?"

Madoka laid a small hand on her friend's shoulder, and Sayaka gave a start. "What? I'm… fine." She blinked, looking around, eyes locking on Hitomi. "What-" Sayaka swallowed. "What happened, Hitomi? How…"

"I'm sorry, it's all my fault," Hitomi began, breaking down again. "I was driving, and… one of those things leapt in front of us. I… It was instinctive. I turned, too hard." The girl pulled at her wavy green hair, fingers clutching in desperation. "Tomoe-san was leaning out the window. Shooting…" The tears coursed down her cheeks as she stared, haunted green eyes staring at an unseen horror. "It f-flipped," she started, then broke off. "On…t-top of-" The feeling of the world spinning around her, the horrible grinding and grating of metal on pavement, and the jarring crash followed by the cacophony of shrill noise. Head fuzzy and ears in agony, she'd slowly become aware of laying on top of the remains of the blonde, her fleshy body crumpled awkwardly against the door that had suddenly become the floor. "On top of her."

And when the body had twitched underneath her… Hitomi had never felt such a desperate need to get away. Then Homura had appeared like some raven-haired porcelain angel, and somehow she'd ended up in the van, safely speeding away from the encroaching monsters.

"I've seen internet videos to that effect, drag racing and stuff." Homura stated. "Not pretty." The angry and disbelieving stares that shot in her direction made her flush. She frowned, biting back her first response. "I… sorry. Mami-san will be missed."

"And Mazushii," added Madoka, thoughtful as ever despite the overwhelming sadness she felt at the loss of her blonde mentor. Poor Mazushii had been a classmate for years; thinking of Homura's story about her ultimate fate gave the pinkette an unexpected lurch in her belly.

"And Kyousuke." Hitomi sighed. "I… I want to apologize, to all of you. This has all been overwhelming, and I've… reacted poorly, I suppose." She closed her eyes, tears squeezing out to run trails down her glistening cheeks..

"Time enough for that later- Uh-oh," Nakazawa muttered from the front. Hitomi, imagining him rolling his eyes in that obnoxiously immature way he always did when she was baring her feelings, turned and saw a hissing cloud of steam erupt from underneath the hood of the van, an instant sheet of fog completely obscuring their vision.

Nakazawa slammed on the brakes much harder than he needed to, and the passengers were jostled violently once more. "Shit," he complained. "What do we do now?"

Homura looked at the other students hopefully. "Anyone know anything about cars?"

The looks that regarded her varied from blank to incredulous. Flipping a long braid back over her shoulder, Homura stated the obvious. "We can't stay here." Then she looked at Sayaka, raising an eyebrow questioningly.

"What?"

Homura shrugged. "I was hoping you had an idea. We're, what, halfway to the Kaname house?" she asked, Nakazawa shrugging a tentative affirmation, his eyes peering out the side windows vigilantly. "That's about fifteen blocks. You know this area. Mami-san listened to your advice," she added purposefully.

Sayaka's eyes narrowed in anger for a moment before her face seemed to drop, becoming tired and sad. "Mami's dead."

"Yes. We'll miss her." Homura meant that with all her heart. She was too afraid to ask if anyone knew the location of the blonde's fortified paradise in the mountains. "But that's all the more reason we need you right now." _Hurry up already and pull it together, we don't have time for this crap!_ She held the hopeless blue gaze for a moment, willing some fight in the blunette.

Sayaka glanced around, out the windows. "Let's get out, now. It seems clear but we should keep watch on all points. If the car was as loud outside as what we heard, it might have attracted some attention." Not the most impressive plan, but it was a start. Homura kept her smile of victory suppressed. The street they were on, a scant kilometer from the school, was as empty and abandoned as the rest of the small residential buildings lining the preceding blocks.

Getting out, five sets of eyes gazed up and down the street. "Where are they?" Sayaka wondered aloud.

"Do you think they're all safe?" Madoka asked hopefully. "Maybe everybody got away, somehow, maybe it was just the school, maybe everyone else has been rescued…"

Homura made a noncommittal noise. She'd assumed the blunette had been wondering where all the zombies were, not the people. The people, in all likelihood, _were _the zombies. Slowly, with exaggerated care, Homura shouldered her backpack and stepped around the left side of the van.

The steam continued to pour out of the disabled vehicle. The streets were eerily quiet, and the sun was approaching its zenith behind a thick layer of cloud cover, the streets mirroring the shifting sky with pristine reflection off the ever-present Mitakihara glass. Not understanding the fixation herself, Homura nevertheless admired the effect, and the lack of bodies and smeared blood within the nearby buildings was encouraging. Hand resting comfortably on the grip of the pistol stuffed into a pocket, the transfer student slowly spun around, looking for… something.

Inspiration, maybe.

* * *

><p>They abandoned the wrecked van with equal parts reluctance and haste. "It did it's job," Homura had tried, bracingly, but she knew the others saw it as something that had come at far too high a price.<p>

_That's the problem with getting attached to people_, the perennial outsider acknowledged wisely to the uncaring universe. _It messes with your perception._

Hustling down the streets, each carried part of the load. At Homura's insistence, they'd each taken something of everything; food, clothing, the remnants of their medicine, and the small supply of weaponry they'd acquired. Sayaka relinquished one of her pair of bokken to Homura. Nakazawa had his crowbar, and Hitomi and Madoka were tasked with carrying the two rifles; one that Homura had used, the other a battered, angular one that had been Mami's pride and joy.

"Uh, guys," Nakazawa had said softly, stopping the group in the street. "I really need to, er, take a break…"

"A break?" asked Homura, astonished. "We've got another kilometer and a half to get to Madoka-chan's house, and it has to be noon already." She glanced up at the clouds with a look of annoyance. "We can't-"

Nakazawa rolled his eyes in frustration. "Bathroom break, if you need me to spell it out for you."

"Oh."

"Don't mind Miss Iron Bladder over there," Hitomi smiled tiredly, "Some of us humans would welcome a few minutes in a bathroom."

"There's a gas station up on the corner," Madoka supplied helpfully, itching an arm thoughtfully.

"We need more food, and maybe there will be, uh, a car or something. With the keys in the ignition… what?" Nakazawa asked, defensive. "It could happen."

Every head rose simultaneously, turning to scan the street.

Madoka asked, "Was that…"

"Gunshot," Homura confirmed. They waited a few tense minutes, periodically scanning the still-empty streets for danger. Finally, the transfer student shrugged. "It's almost impossible to tell exactly where a single shot comes from; if you're even sniping at someone, remember that. I think it was from back there," she gestured, back across the opposite end of the city.

"Should we… try to find them?" Hitomi asked. "If they are fighting, and have weapons, maybe it's the authorities. Maybe they can protect us."

"Maybe," sneered Homura. "But just as likely to be the other kind of people who have firearms in this country."

The others glanced at her. Nakazawa eyed the gas station at the end of the block longingly. "The military?" Madoka guessed.

"No. Criminals. Dangerous people."

"Oh." The pinkette considered this, perplexed. "But, if we're all in danger from these monsters, why wouldn't we work together? Those things are worse than anything else, right?" Then she remembered what Mami had been telling her the night before; no rules. A part of her couldn't accept that things would be _that _bad. Surely, under the same threat, people would put aside their differences and band together. Work together. Like _their _group had.

Sayaka, noting Nakazawa's discomfort, shepherded the group along. "That shot will have attracted attention, so we should stay away. If we run into some police, that's one thing. But Akemi-san's right; we gotta play it safe." The blunette considered. "The fact that there's shooting tells us that there are people still alive, and they're presumably shooting at something dangerous."

"Fairly obvious," Nakazawa agreed, an intense look of concentration on his face as he marched toward the building ahead.

"Unless they're trying to signal help, communicate with other survivors," Hitomi contributed. "After all, as soon as we heard them we knew they were people-"

"A person. Just one." Muscular shoulders shrugged. "We can guess and hypothesize all day, but for now…" Sayaka gestured to the glass-walled gas station across the street. "I think Nakazawa has some business to attend to."

* * *

><p>Luckily for the girls, the store had separate facilities for men and women.<p>

The water hadn't worked, but there were plenty of bottles of it for a quick but thorough washing. Refreshed, the group had set about grabbing whatever appeared useful. The shelves had been ransacked, food and items scattered through the aisles. While Homura stuffed a duffel bag with plastic bottles of tea and can after can of energy drinks, Madoka scrounged through the toiletries, finding some necessary items with a profound sense of relief. Hitomi and Sayaka took turns watching outside and gathering up an assortment of candy and nuts, the green-haired girl hastily stuffing a brightly colored magazine into the bag she held with a guilty glance at the others.

Nakazawa, who'd eyed the display a few times during his meandering through the store, looked around shiftily. Heart pounding, he grabbed a handful of the small, square boxes, shoving them into his pocket, overwhelmed at the selection: ribbed, lubricated-

"What have you got there, Nakazawa-kun?" Madoka asked, her small frame appearing from behind the row of health-care items.

Blushing furiously, the boy stammered. "Oh… uh, n-nothing, there's-" Desperate, he glanced around and reached out, grabbing the first thing he saw at hand. "Um… here's some, er, gel. Can never have too much lub...ri...cation…" Too late, he took a closer look at the label, fairly innocuous but suddenly all-too-clear. Now it was the pinkette who was blushing, and Nakazawa felt ready to wither and die on the spot.

And then Homura had shown up. "Oh wow, you found some! Just what I was looking for," the raven-haired girl had stated, proceeding to gather up handful after handful of the small boxes that had held his fascination. By now, the others had stopped whatever they were doing, glancing over at the trio with startled looks.

"Ah… re-really?" _I must have misunderstood_, the brown-haired boy allowed.

"Huh? Oh, not for that," Homura assured, stopping for a moment to glance at Nakazawa, who had begun to wilt under the scrutiny. "_Not_ for that," she reaffirmed, staring at him intensely for a moment. "At least," she continued quietly, "not with Madoka. Or me." The last was added almost as an afterthought, almost too obvious to be stated aloud.

"Uh…" Nakazawa began, but once he got that much out he failed to follow it up with anything coherent. With unstoppable, willful treachery, his eyes shot over to Sayaka and Hitomi. "Um-"

Sayaka had been close enough to catch the gist of the conversation; the outraged look in her gaze made it clear as day. _As if!_

"Where are all the, er," Homura's eyes narrowed, glancing in Madoka's direction. The pinkette's earnest curiosity made them narrow even further. "The _unlubricated _ones," she whispered into the boy's ear. The boy blinked, uncertain, and the girl huffed in exasperation. "You can have these, for all the good they'll do you," she began, pressing a dozen of the individual packages into his hands. Then she reached into his pocket. "Here they are," she confirmed, pulling out several of the things and displaying them proudly, and began peeling the packaging away, one after another.

Sayaka couldn't decide whether to laugh or get… upset. Or something. _Is that an overreaction? _she wondered. This whole display had grated on her… the boy was at _least _guilty of being… presumptuous. That was the word. _But_, she reluctantly admitted to herself, _at least he's thinking ahead_. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Hitomi stuff another brightly colored fashion magazine into her duffle bag.

Homura began explaining the utility of the stretchable, waterproof latex, rolling one down the length of the heavy, utilitarian rifle that was their only working firearm. "Now it's protected. No way this gun's getting wet now. As long as it's pointing up- What?" As the group had continued to stare at her, the transfer student began to feel flustered, only increasing when she saw the stupid brown-haired boy adjusting his pants.

It was at that moment that Hitomi called out in a harsh whisper. "I see some them, on the street. They're coming!"

* * *

><p>Homura slung the newly-waterproofed rifle over a shoulder, hefting the bag over the other. She patted her pockets, triple-checking for her medicine, and readied herself.<p>

Sayaka watched over the empty street from the doorway, the turmoil in her mind reduced to a faint undercurrent as survival instincts had kicked in. A shuffling mass of a dozen figures had walked down the middle of the road, spread out but following the same route. Some nerve-wracking minutes of silence had seen them continue on their way, leaving the students aching with tension but otherwise unmolested.

Physically, at least. But mentally... the appearance of the creatures had broken the spell. They had not escaped from _them _yet.

A light drizzle began to fall, the clouds overhead darkening the sky until it looked more like dusk than noon. Sayaka glanced back inside. Madoka stood with her hands clutching her stomach, looking faintly green. _I warned her about drinking all that tea. _Their hastily eaten lunch had given them all a much-needed boost of caffeine and sugar, along with a bountiful haul of calories. What they couldn't carry with them, they'd carry inside of them.

Hitomi stared ahead, not meeting Sayaka's eyes, looking determined with her bag clutched under an arm, metal bat held somewhat awkwardly in another. Nakazawa leaned against the door, crowbar in hand, awaiting her signal.

The blunette gave a nod. Without a word, Nakazawa opened the door, holding it while Sayaka and Hitomi stepped out into the light rain. Crouch-walking to the intersection, the swordswoman glanced around in every direction as she executed a slow spin. Nothing immediately popped out, and she examined the area more carefully, ignoring the soreness in her knees.

Ahead of them lay a part of MItakihara was predominantly commercially zoned. Sayaka didn't know that, instead thinking of this area as a kind of office park wasteland. The neat, modern structures displayed an almost obnoxious amount of glass.

"Check _that _out," Nakazawa whispered, causing her heart to briefly stop. Flashing him a warning glare, Sayaka followed the boy's pointing finger. Off in the direction they were heading, at the limit of her vision in the increasing darkness, something was flashing.

"Police!" Sayaka whispered, excited. "That's a police car! Maybe…"

Glancing around, the blunette spotted Hitomi standing twenty meters down the road, watching the alley that ran behind the string of offices adjacent to the gas station. She waved the girl over, turned, and waved the same to Madoka and Homura.

Eyes darting around, the group coalesced at the curb, hunched down and huddled together. "Looks clear ahead," Sayaka confirmed, "and there seems to be a police vehicle up there. Since we're already heading in that direction, we're going to check it out." The blunette smiled as Homura's open mouth snapped shut; even if there turned out to be no helpful adult protector of the citizenry on hand, the police were one of the few people that would be armed.

* * *

><p>Minutes ticked by as they cautiously approached, and slowly the scene before the group resolved itself. There were several cars ahead of them, some smashed into each other. Six or seven vehicles, involved in some kind of accident. The black and white police cruiser stood apart from the wreckage, lights flashing through the light drizzle that fell from the increasingly ominous clouds overhead.<p>

Sayaka winced at the clatter her friends made as they walked down the street, keeping to the sidewalk out of habit. The clack of Hitomi's shoes, Nakazawa stomping across the pavement under the burden of his bulging backpack, bottles and cans clinking around… even Homura's stride carried a tell-tale rattle of pills being shaken in their bottles. A wan Madoka walked at her side, her light step all but completely silent. The blunette held up a hand halfway down the block, turning around. "Stop," she whispered.

"What is it?" Hitomi asked, giving the nearby building a cursory glance before dismissing it, eyes roving about for signs of danger.

"Shh! We've got to keep it down," Sayaka explained as the group huddled together. Buildings two and four stories tall ran along this stretch of road, dull names proclaiming uninteresting businesses.

As Sayaka gave a brief lecture on the nature of stealth and the importance of silence, Homura peered down the blunette's whispering faded into the background as the transfer student stared, unblinking, waiting-

_There._

_Movement._

Blinking furiously, she squinted, a hand raising to adjust her glasses before noticing mid-gesture. With a frustrated sound, she turned the motion into an emphatic point. "Something's over there," she whispered to the group, and all was silent as the quintet glanced down the road, each trying to make out what she was referring to.

Just as Homura thought she saw the figure nearly a hundred meters away, movement out of the corner of her eye made her stomach drop sickeningly. Too late, she turned, seeing the blood-encrusted face contorted in furious hunger, the blood red eyes emerging from deeper within the building to their left. She felt as if time slowed down, her head turning and the monster rushing forward and everyone else staring, blissfully ignorant of the encroaching menace. She contemplated fate, the random chance that had made Hitomi step forward while Madoka lingered behind, closest to the building. Even with everything else that had gone wrong, Homura knew she'd never recover from seeing the girl's throat ripped out-

Her mouth opened, far too late. The warning that was even now beginning to morph into a scream hadn't yet been voiced before the thing hurtled towards the group, towards Madoka, and abruptly slammed into an invisible wall of force.

Everyone jumped, spinning towards the sound of something slamming into a thick pane of glass. Homura gave a strange cry, part fright and part astonishment, and the group backed away, eyes darting every which way, taking in any sign of danger.

The creature slammed into the glass again, its jaw slack but eyes blazing with red fury. With a nervous laugh, Sayaka waved the group on. The noise died on her lips as another zombie, a dead woman missing half her hair, rammed into the long glass window, the open wound of her belly spilling out a hideous mass of ropy, grey-black tendrils. The group retreated as several more pairs of blood-darkened eyes appeared within the building, and the hammering of the creatures gave urgency to the group's flight.

Sayaka glanced around, assessing options. She didn't want to go back the way they'd came, but there were more of the things ahead of them that Homura had pointed out, and she had no idea if what was essentially a glass wall could hold the zombies inside. Mid-block, there wasn't many options: the doors had all been locked, and the buildings were pressed close together. Maybe the alley over there…

"Not the alley," Homura whispered fiercely, annoying and slightly scaring the blunette. "We should keep going."

"But you saw-"

"It was just one. We can't go back, and we are not going into that uncomfortably tight, impossible-to-escape-from alleyway."

"If we backtrack, we could try to get around-"

"Remember what was following us as we left the school. There's no telling how far those things have gotten. Or how fast they can move." She nodded at the zombie who'd given her such a scare. "That one was quick."

Sayaka frowned, remembering the lurching speed of a group back at the school. Much faster than most of the zombies she'd encountered. Suddenly, she became all too aware of the other three's increasingly desperate glances. "Yes, Akemi-san's right. The police car. Let's hustle." She nodded as Homura stepped forward, pulling the borrowed bokken that stood half-submerged inside her backpack. With a glance from the blunette, Nakazawa joined her, Hitomi and Madoka trailing behind leaving Sayaka to watch their rear.

Her pulse quickened as she heard something underneath the thumping, undead fists. Straining, cracking glass? Nerves jangling with electric fear, she listened desperately for the now-familiar crystalline shattering, the tinkling of fragments hitting the ground.

Half a block later, she took a breath, the anticipation grating on her-

"Psst!"

Sayaka jumped, spinning around. Homura tried not to wince, watching the blunette's wooden sword hang poised for a moment before motioning in the direction the others were staring. Recovering quickly, Sayaka gave one last glance behind them before investigating what lay ahead.

Twenty meters ahead, tinted windows reflected the oppressive layer of clouds that filled the sky. The lights atop the vehicle flashed, every so often picking out one of the steady drips that fell from the grey darkness looming overhead. Each droplet caught in the silent flashes of illumination sparkled, a glittering shower of ruby and sapphire all but unnoticed by the five survivors.

The wreckage of the pileup was gruesome. Even in the gathering gloom, Madoka could make out the darkened pool on the pavement, the smearing marks of bodies dragged, torn from the twisted vehicles. Looking around in horror, she saw the nearest car's window smashed, it's front bumper crumpled against the truck ahead. Streaks of blood ran from the window's edge, slowly disappearing under the rain's assault.

"Oh my god," Hitomi whispered. She stared at the wet stain, trying not to focus on what may have once been an ear, and a finger, and… other things, lying pale against the cement. It was clear where bodies had been dragged from, perhaps to be feasted upon by a mob of those monsters. She shuddered, remembering scenes of the things wrestling and dragging victims both alive and dead. Fighting over the bodies with such force she'd seen people ripped apart.

Nakazawa glanced around, trying to see what everyone else was staring at. "Looks clear to me," he muttered hopefully, eyeing the girls sidelong.

"There," Homura pointed. Movement revealed something across the street. Behind a glass front of a small diner, a figure shuffled back and forth. light blue collared shirt covered with a dark vest were unmistakably the uniform of a prefectural policeman. The others looked up and followed her gaze.

"Wish we had some binoculars or something." Sayaka whispered idly, staring into the gloomy interior of the building but unable to make out any other threats.

"Well, we don't," Hitomi said flatly. "Besides, it's not that far away. I just see the one."

"But what got him?" Sayaka mused, not quite to herself. Everyone was dividing their time between staring at the zombie across the street, the pileup of cars, and the blocks of small office buildings left in their wake. Frantically scanning for moment, unblinking, the feeling of having just missed catching a hint of movement lending an almost uncontrollable urgency to their situational awareness.

Seeing everyone's panicky looks, and feeling herself literally dripping with fear, Sayaka brought a forearm across her brow and turned to the others. "Okay, time to keep moving. Better safe than-"

"Wait," started Homura. "A member of the prefectural police or security forces should be armed. In all likelihood, he'll have equipment we can use. Not just weapons," she added hastily, seeing the restive look in the other students' eyes as the looked at the diner. "Radios. Maybe keys to that car," she finished, nodding at the police cruiser.

Madoka gave a firm nod. She'd wanted to proceed directly to her home, now that they were a mere three blocks away. But if it mattered so much to Homura, she'd support her. A feeling of time running out, the world speeding up and somehow passing her by, gave the pinkette a need to get things moving.

She walked over to the car, noting with uncertainty how low the rear tire looked. She glanced over at the others, who hadn't yet noticed her departure. Well, maybe the keys were inside the-

A ragged, claw-like hand darted out from underneath the vehicle.

Sayaka had a moment to reflect with amazement on the lightning speed of Homura's reaction, the girl's hair fanning out behind her as she turned and sped in the direction of the sound even as the blunette was noticing Madoka's absence and registering her voice, _screaming_.

By the time she'd caught up, she couldn't figure out why Homura had stopped, why she was staring and not helping, until she felt her eyes widening at the sight of the crouching pinkette, slamming the butt of her rifle repeatedly, the half-man horror that lay at her feet twitching as blow after blow smashed the head to pulp.

Sayaka turned away, feeling nauseous. Not so much at the gore, but the look in her friend's eyes. A wild sort of glee, electric and terrifying.

"I wasn't screaming," Madoka was complaining, wiping away the smear of matter that clung to the bottom of the rifle with a look of disgust. "It must have crawled underneath." She glanced meaningfully at Sayaka. "We should start checking below them."

"Good thinking, Madoka-chan. And we should also let each other know when we're about to wander off," she added, the playfulness in her voice unable to fully mask the concern she felt as her heart slowly returned to normal.

The pinkette had the grace to look embarrassed. "It was just a few feet. I just wanted to see…" carefully checking inside for any danger, she gave up trying to see through the tinted glass and tried the door. She turned around, feeling a flash of annoyance at Sayaka's amused grin. "It was worth a shot."

Sayaka heaved a sigh. "I suppose we'll have to go see if he has the key," she said, masking a strange, exhilarating feeling with a veneer of resignation. _I want to kill it._ The blunette shook her head, gripping her bokken tightly to alleviate the sudden, violent desire.

"Well?" Nakazawa asked, keeping his eyes scanning the wrecked vehicles around them.

"Let's think of a plan-"

"No time for that," hissed Homura, "Look!"

A block behind them, figures shambled in the almost twilit darkness, difficult to make out and terrifying in their obscurity. A dozen, at least. As more came round the corner, the group halted, milling around before once again beginning their shuffling journey down the road, turning and coming directly towards them.

"Shit," Sayaka whispered, panic sending her heart fluttering. Madoka's eyes were wide, Hitomi's terrified and demanding, and Nakazawa simply looked disgusted.

"Run or hide?" Homura asked, once again at the blunette's side.

Presented with options, the blunette weighted her choices. Sayaka glanced back at the undead officer in the building across the street. _It worked before, in the gas station._ "We going in. Slowly, it's dark. Hopefully _they _won't notice us." Swallowing, she crouched down, motioning for the others. The backpack cutting into her shoulders became even more cumbersome as she frog-walked behind the police car.

The group scuffled across the street, trying to keep out of sight of the approaching pack of undead, dozens of figures now visible against the bleak darkness that seemed to have swallowed the earth. Suddenly, the vehicles were illuminated in a flash of light, and the sky was rent by a terrific boom of thunder. Fat drops of rain began falling, a few brief seconds of individual wet spattering before the entire world seemed to be filled with streaming precipitation.

"Let's go!" Sayaka called, getting up and heading straight for the diner's entrance. Soaked to the bone, the blunette hoped the rain would hide them from the oncoming monsters. _Why had they turned?_ Were they following them? Somehow tracking them down like a wolf after it's prey?

The door was mercifully open, and she held it for the others to enter out of habit before slipping inside, gripping the hilt of her weapon tightly, thankful of the tape she'd added last night.

If it had gotten dark outside, the gloom was even more oppressive within the enclosed entryway. Nervously, she shuffled forward, keeping on the balls of her feet as she'd been taught, ready to move in any direction at any moment. The rain beat against the rooftop, pattered incessantly against the windows, the sound startling loud in the darkened building.

The others began filing in, and at Madoka's safe arrival Sayaka nodded, motioning her intentions to the others. The pinkette gave her a pained smile, gripping the rifle like a bat with her padded athletic gloves. _I doubt she could shoot with those on,_ Sayaka mused, stepping up to the partition that blocked the rest of the small restaurant from the entry. Not that it mattered now. The last thing they needed was to draw the attention of those monsters outside.

Of the monsters _inside_, Sayaka noted only the one. The creature stood with its back to her, seeming to gaze out the window of the shadowy room. _Did it see the rain? Was it drawn to the lighting? Had it noticed the large group of its fellow undead heading down the road?_

The former officer turned, alerted somehow just as she swung her wooden sword. The bokken bounced harmlessly off its shoulder, the unyielding impact nearly jarring the weapon out of the blunette's hands. The thing turned, a face stained with the dark crimson-brown of its latest blood-feast, fingers reaching out with startling quickness, latching onto her arm. She jerked back, stumbling.

Lighting lit up the sky again, and Sayaka's blood froze as she saw the mass of dark shapes approaching the building, a split second of shambling horror before the darkness once again swallowed up the terrible vision. Backing away, she blinked spots from her eyes. _So many!_ It was like the entire school had followed them… but that was impossible. Wasn't it?

Mind reeling, Sayaka felt the ground come out from under her feet. Slamming into the ground, she felt something else grabbing at her leg, clutching even as the undead policeman approached, a horrible gurgling sound heard above the rain thrumming against the window.

Nakazawa cursed, seeing things going bad from the doorway and pushing past the others, fumbling with the crowbar tucked into his backpack. Madoka followed suit, rushing forward with arms drawn back, while Homura pulled out her pistol as Hitomi watched helplessly. "Hitomi, light!"

The pinkette slammed into the upright zombie, pushing the uniformed monster back toward the window. Sayaka kicked out desperately, scrambling away from the thing that had been underfoot, feeling its clutching weight dragged behind her.

"Oh fuck!" Nakazawa uttered, eyes narrowed grimly even before the light appeared behind him, the dark ruby gaze of two more undead glinting as they shuffled into the room.

"Madoka!" Homura warned, and the pinkette turned to see the approaching undead.

Split second decisions can be difficult, but only well after they've been made. Madoka couldn't say exactly why she rushed at the new threats rather than helping Sayaka with her own battle, other than it seemed right at the time. She charged into one just as Nakazawa hit the other in the face with his metal bar, the room lurching with motion as suddenly Hitomi was next to her swinging a bat with one hand and holding on to her phone in the other.

On the floor, Sayaka struggled to free herself from the grip of the zombie at her feet, not able to spare even a second to glance around at the policeman. She knew the others were gone, she was alone, something had gone wrong… twisting, breaths coming in rasping gasps, she found herself wrestling with the arms of the undead officer as it descended upon her, and with another flicker of lightning she saw its terrible face inches from her own as bloodstained lips parted. Gasping and kicking at the other thing still holding her leg, she inhaled a burst of putrid, rotting-meat breath. The smell of death. Outside, thunder crashed, the windows seeming to shake.

Homura watched, shaken by the scene that had been revealed by the flash of lightning. Through the front window, the nightmarish image of dozens of creatures, the nearest with eyes lit by unholy fire for a second before swallowed in the rain once more. The others were waging their own battle; only she saw Miki-san's predicament.

Sayaka choked, desperately pushing away at the former officer's throat, twisting to kick at the crawler with her free leg. She connected, but the impact shifted her, and she felt the inexorable strength of the monster on top of her pressing down, its horrible maw descending toward her throat. Another fork of lightning outside lit up the side of the creature's face, snarling with inhuman hunger. Her arms gave way, and the thing bent close-

A flash and simultaneous blast of thunder wracked the room, the echoing rumble outside oddly muted in her ringing ears. Blinking madly, Sayaka pushed at the limp weight of the creature on top of her, having the presence of mind to scuttle back, avoiding the clutching hands of the zombie that crawled forward.

Nakazawa had dispatched his target, hanging back from the wild swings of Hitomi and Madoka as the two had battered the other into submission. The whole thing was over in seconds, it had seemed, but when he'd finally turned back Sayaka had been underneath the zombie cop and even as he moved it was clear he was too far from her. And then Homura had-

"Y-you stupid fool!" Hitomi cried out hoarsely. "You've killed us all!"

Glancing outside with a strange mixture of certainty and trepidation, Homura shrugged and then frowned, picking up the brass casing from the floor. It had been a desperate shot, truth be told. She'd backed up into the entryway, lining up the creature even as it was about to bite the blunette. Luckily, she'd timed almost perfectly when to take the shot, and the thunder had apparently masked the sound. Hopefully.

"I think we're okay," Madoka began, just as the first shape loomed out of the darkness, resolving as it pressed up into the diner's window. It appeared to stare at them for a long moment before turning away, shuffling along until it disappeared from sight.

Shakily, Sayaka got to her feet, eyeing the lone remaining monster crawling across the floor. Something was wrong with its legs; the creature dragged itself forward. Seeing the awful wounds disabling it, she felt sick with revulsion. "Almost got me, you bastard." She frowned. "Not this time." Not bothering to pick up her dropped weapon, she raised her foot and brought it down, hard.

"Whoa," Nakazawa whispered, disgusted by the sight of the cracked-open skull.

"Shh," pleaded Madoka, breathing fast and glancing around, worried about more threats both outside and in. Thunder rumbled in the distance.

Homura walked over to the uniformed body. Smiling, she began unfastening various clips and buttons. Carefully, she withdrew a small, modest looking revolver from its holster.

"Hey, cool! That's a NANBU m60." A staple of many web crime dramas, the gun was likely the only firearm anyone would ever see on the island. Homura made a noncommittal noise as she found the release pin, looking inside the chamber wheel.

"Not very impressive," Homura stated, eyeing the .38 caliber bullet with distaste. She'd been hoping more for some 9mms to reload her depleted magazine. _Only nine left now. Wish I'd brought another couple clips._ Her home, such as it was, lay in the opposite direction. "Thirty-eight caliber is notoriously weak."

"B-but," Nakazawa sputtered. "It's bigger than yours, shouldn't it be more powerful?"

"How is it bigger?" Homura inquired, staring at the boy.

"Well, 38 is like four times more than 9, and… what?" Pulling the brown hair out of his eyes, he waited for the transfer student to explain her scoffing expletive.

"Different units of measure. Thirty eight hundredths of an inch, versus nine millimeters. They're both about the same size. See?" She held up her casing.

"Which one's better?"

"What do you think?" Homura replied, patting her gun affectionately.

"Yours?"

Smiling, the raven-haired girl turned back to look the corpse. Digging around, she uncovered a short metal rod that made her grin. "Madoka-chan," she beckoned, and the pinkette approached, taking the offering with a trace of confusion. "Flick it out." A few tries later, "Harder. Like- there you go."

Madoka grinned, the black metal baton extended to its full length of around sixty centimeters. A small round ball of steel topped the end. She gave it an experimental swing. "Thanks, Homura-chan."

"Handcuffs, pepper spray… some keys here," she stated, holding up a set of small keys, "but I think they're just to the cuffs."

Another two minutes yielded nothing, except a spike in pulse rates when a small pack of monsters had approached the window, peering in through the rain. The lightning had ceased, and visibility was poor beyond a few meters.

"It's like a typhoon out there," Nakazawa commented at one point.

"D-don't even joke," warned Hitomi through chattering teeth, continuing to stare out the windows at the weather with a look of profound worry. "There was n-nothing like th-this in the f-f-forec-cast."

"Hitomi-chan, are you alright?" Madoka approached her green-haired friend as the others began to quietly ransack the small restaurant. Her pink gaze took in the tall honor-student, latching on to small details. The rent in the sleeve of her uniform, the wet, bedraggled hair, her limbs and shoulders shaking. "You were amazing, the way you fought that monster with me." She patted the girl's shoulder delicately. "Thank you."

"M-my phone's dead," HItomi responded conversationally, hugging herself to stem the shivers that coursed through her body. "Cold," she whispered, feeling too tired to complain further. Frowning, Madoka quietly retreated.

A minute later, still staring out the window, Hitomi felt a heavy weight descend over her. Not in a metaphorical sense, like how she'd felt staring at the unceasing downpour and thinking about Kyousuke and her parents and everything else. Her whole life. Her sense of doom was dispelled by a jolt of fear at the unnoticed touch, but even as she turned she knew what Madoka had done. There was a time when Shizuki Hitomi would have sneered at the thought of being draped in the filthy tablecloth of some wretched diner that people had _eaten on_. But even through her damp clothes the sensation was immediate, a feeling of warmth and of being held.

"You're going to make it, Hitomi-chan. I know it. Together, we'll get through this." Tucking the last of the half-dozen tablecloths she'd acquired from nearby tables, Madoka stepped back to admire her work. Hitomi was still shivering, but some of her color had returned. She led the girl over to a booth in the corner, sitting her down. "Rest here for a bit. I'm going to go talk to the others. We'll figure out what to do." Shapes continued to loom in the darkness of the intense rain, shuffling forward into the window.

Madoka approached Sayaka and Nakazawa, who were holding a whispered conversation near a door she assumed led to the kitchen. She glanced back, and as fortune would have it Homura had been looking in her direction already, so she beckoned the girl with a tilt of her head.

"What's up, Madoka-chan?" Sayaka asked, eyeing the lump of cloth sitting in the corner. "How's Hitomi?"

The pinkette glanced around, noting the various looks of determination and focus. "I think… She says she's cold," she began. She didn't want to make the girl sound weak, or worse yet a liability.

"It's fucking freezing in here," Nakazawa agreed, blowing on his hands theatrically.

"It's the rain, being all wet." Sayaka looked a little blue around the lips herself.

"No power, no heat. It's a good thing this happened now, instead of _before _winter," Homura mused. "Although summer brings its own... unpleasantness."

Madoka frowned. "What do you-"

"The smell," explained Sayaka, confident in her guess.

"That," Homura nodded graciously, a gesture that rubbed the blunette the wrong way, "and the rotting and disease and animals." She watched Nakazawa's face twist in disgust and grinned inwardly. "Imagine all the maggots and flies that will-"

"That's enough!" cried Sayaka, trying to keep her tone light. "We have to focus on the now, first. Get out of here."

"My house…" Madoka's voice faded, suddenly uncertain.

Sayaka grinned. "That's where we're headed, Madoka-chan. We're only six blocks away, and it's all houses from here on. No more of these creepy office buildings."

"Homes will have stuff." Nakazawa contributed. Blue and pink eyes stared until he began to blush.

"He's right," interjected the black-haired girl, pulling at a braid thoughtfully. "We'll find things we can use. Food, first aid stuff, backpacks, tools, maybe even some-"

"Guns?!" Nakazawa inquired, his voice loud with excitement. The others winced, and he was overcome with chagrin.

"I doubt it. If I was back overseas… that would be almost a sure bet. What we need is some other weapons, something that will help keep us safe when we fight those things. Baseball bats and kitchen knives aren't going to cut it. We could find just about anything, especially since that's the rich part of town."

"Upper middle class," Madoka corrected, as always feeling distinctly uneasy when others began referring to her as 'rich'. "My house probably has some stuff we can use. My parents will know what to do… my dad's pretty handy, I bet he's got some barricades up already." Her eyes gleamed even in the dim light of the unpowered building.

"I hope so," Nakazawa said optimistically. Trapped in a mansion with four hot chicks and Madoka's mom sounded way better than slogging through the rain, fleeing for their lives. A small part of him sighed, as if to say _if only it were that easy_. "We should get going once the coast is clear, this place is a bust. Unprepared food, some cutlery... "

Madoka lowered her voice, glancing back at Hitomi's huddled, cloth-heaped form. "Hitomi-chan… I think maybe she's in shock or something." The others digested this, glancing between one another. "Pale, shaking, weak… you should have seen her, staring out the window." She sighed. "We have to let her rest. Just a little while," she quickly finished, seeing the look of protest beginning to build.

Sayaka nodded. "If we wait, there's a better chance those things will be gone when we leave. Maybe we can even get into the police car."

"No keys," Homura grunted, sounding a bit sour. "The rain could be just the camouflage we need. They won't see us-"

"We won't see them until it's too late," Sayaka countered. She shook her head, shoulder-length blue hair still dripping from the soaking it had endured minutes ago. "Let's wait it out. Maybe we can find a way up to the roof, try to scope out the next couple blocks…"

Smiling, Madoka left them to it, heading back to Hitomi. The girl looked more comfortable, the shivering stopped. It was funny, but the pinkette hadn't noticed the cold at all. She felt comfortably… numb. Even her hand had stopped aching.

Hitomi's phone lay on the table, for the time being a useless hunk of plastic. Carefully, Madoka pulled out her own, briefly powering it up as she approached the bundled girl. She stopped, heart hammering.

_9 missed calls. 1 new message._

Staring at the single bar that demonstrated the tenuousness of her connection, Madoka walked toward the window in the hope that glass was more conducive to data transfer than brick. A dainty thumb tapped open her voicemail.

"Madoka, it's me. Sweetheart, I need you to listen very carefully…"

* * *

><p><strong>Far, far too long between updates. Who do I think I am, George R.R. Martin? Thanks for your patience, and especially your comments.<strong>

**Special thanks to ch3n for reminding me to get back to work. PMs can be compelling. Extra long might not equate to extra good, but there you have it.**

**Hope it's relatively enjoyable thus far; if you have any ideas or hopes for what you want to see let me know.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

_Where the heart is_

"There's not enough time to tell you everything; the satellite's already passed overhead and won't be back for hours. Something terrible has happened, and I need you to be strong. Mitakihara is no longer safe. You have to get out, now. Find some friends, if you can, to accompany you. Avoid strangers at all costs. Some kind of sickness. Stay away from them. You have to get to the military base north of the city. Not the security forces, the Americans.

"We'll be safe here, Madoka. I know… somehow, you're going to get this. I know you're alright. I'm sorry, honey, I wish there was a way I could... Oh… don't go home. Head north from your school; stick to the side streets we walked last summer. I know you've been thinking about all of us, but you have to focus on yourself now. I've already called Tomohisa on the land line, nobody's answering. Either they left, or… Don't go home, Madoka darling. Your dad has Tatsuya, I'm sure they're on their way.

"Be strong, Madoka. Life had dealt you a terrible hand, but I believe in you. So does your brother, so do your friends. Remember that, if things get difficult. Get out of the city. North, to the base. Stay away from… everyone, if you can, sweetie. _Survive_. Do… do _whatever _you have to do. You have blossomed into a fine young woman, and I'm so proud of you. I know it's not in your nature, but you must be suspicious of everyone you-"

The impassioned voice cut off.

Stunned, Madoka glanced at her phone through a haze of emotion, noting the blurry, wavering battery icon had turned an ominous red. The lone dot was now just another empty circle in the corner of the display, the dreaded No Signal icon glowing below it. The connection had failed. She stared blankly for a long moment, trying to replay her mother's message in her head, wiping absently at the trickle of tears that poured down her cheeks.

Movement gave her eyes focus, and, blinking determinedly, she peered outside, the cascading rain obscuring the world beyond a few meters. Her gaze met the dead stare of at least a dozen shadowy figures, seeming to materialize out of the darkness right outside the building, their eyes black pools of death.

The jolt of terror, like an icy hand gripping her heart, was becoming unpleasantly familiar. It had the effect of sobering her instantly. "Pssst!" the pinkette whispered, slowly walking backwards, away from the window. "Hey," she tried again, the obvious panic in her hoarse whisper getting everyone's attention. She pointed.

Sayaka suppressed a groan.

Nakazawa didn't. "Shit, again?" He glanced around, half-frantic.

"Out the back," murmured Homura, hooking a thumb behind her.

"Who knows what's out there? That side didn't have any windows-"

"This side," Homura stated flatly, "is nothing but windows." She stared hard at the taller boy, who broke eye contact to push his hair back.

"If they smash through that window… we'll have to leave that way regardless." The group looked around, surprised at Hitomi's contribution. Still pale and dripping wet, the green-haired girl had sloughed off the tablecloth cocoon and picked up her backpack. "Who knows how many of those things will be drawn to the noise if they start trying to get in?"

Sayaka blinked, frowning slightly after feeling a momentary burst of reassurance at Hitomi's reasonable tone. "Madoka-chan?" The pinkette looked utterly conflicted, a bundle of nervous energy somehow out of place given the direness of the situation.

"Yes, I think that's a good idea, too," Madoka whispered in a rush, hoisting up her thin phone. "That was my mom! She warned me about this, and told me to-"

"Wait, your mom?" Sayaka asked in amazement. "She called you?" The others muttered with excitement behind them, and various devices were withdrawn to be checked, or stared at mournfully in the case of Hitomi.

"No, well, yes," Madoka tried, flustered at the look of wild hope in each set of eyes before her. "She left a message. I only had a connection for a minute." Suddenly stricken with a thought brought on by the resentful look she imagined in the others' eyes, the pinkette hung her head. "I didn't want to miss anything she said, and didn't even think to let any of you know I was getting a signal. I'm sorry for not telling you right away, it was selfish of me-"

Nakazawa stared, aghast, Madoka succeeding in pre-emptively planting the thought in his mind. "You mean, you could have _called _someone? You could have called the police or something-"

Sayaka opened her mouth to defend her friend, who suddenly looked on the verge of tears. Looking closer, the blunette noticed the tell-tale signs of puffy eyes and muted sniffling. The sharp burst of anger she felt towards Nakazawa, however, dissolved in amazement as someone beat her to the punch.

"Don't be ridiculous, you know just as well as I do that there's nobody to save us, nobody who can help us," snarled Homura, purple eyes blazing even in the dim light. Nakazawa found himself taking a step backward. "You want a police officer?" She pointed at the corpse at the front of the diner. "There you have it. Who was Madoka supposed to have called?"

The brown-haired boy glowered, not giving up. _All this shit, and to have a chance at… something. Contacting someone._ It was crushing, knowing that he could have gotten a hold of his father, or uncle. Or, barring that, the military. "The military would have been my first choice," he replied acidly.

"Nakazawa, you must realize that, whatever remains of the newly reconstituted military forces are no doubt doing what they are designed to do and protecting the nation's elite from this… disaster." Hitomi's words carried weight, her father being highly placed in the hierarchy of forces that had grown exponentially in power over the past decade. The situation with China had made certain of that.

"And how was she supposed to know it would cut out again?" Sayaka demanded, stepping over to comfort her friend, putting her uncomfortably close to Homura as well. "Quit being an ass, Nakazawa. Madoka, did your mom have anything to say?"

Even Nakazawa's ire faded at the question, replaced with embarrassed curiosity. "I… yeah. Sorry, Madoka."

Smiling up at the boy gratefully, the pinkette wiped at her eyes with the ever-present padded gloves. "Yes. It cut out before I heard it all, but sh-"

Something thudded into the diner's front window. _Shit!_ five minds though, simultaneously. The survivors froze, Madoka slowly craning her neck around to see what had drawn every other gaze. The mass of shapes were difficult to distinguish, the obscuring downpour seeming to merge the shambling, milling bodies. Greyish and vague, there were more of the creatures now. Twenty? Thirty?

The eyes were the worst. The blood-stained whites of the monsters' eyes looked black in the gloom of the storm, twin pits of nightmare. The effect was sinister, especially when a zombie's face pressed up against the glass, the cascading rain framing its monstrous visage. It was like staring into two bottomless pits.

"Get your stuff, we gotta leave. Now." Heart hammering in her chest, Sayaka adjusted the shoulder straps of her armor as they retreated, oblivious to the chafing discomfort as she tried to calm herself, steady, deep breathing getting her body ready for the anticipated excitement of bursting out the back doors into unknown danger. "Madoka-chan's house is still several blocks away."

The pinkette opened her mouth as if to say something, remembering her mother's directions, but clamped it shut before anyone but Homura had noticed. "Madoka-chan, what is it?" Something was obviously bothering her.

Grimacing, the shorter girl turned the look into a surprised smile. "Nothing, Homura-chan. Just… be careful, everyone." _We'll be safe once we get there,_ she thought with determined optimism. _And maybe Dad's still around. He'd know what to do._

* * *

><p>The rear exit had led into a wide, dumpster-lined alleyway. Homura was instantly soaked to the skin under the ceaseless assault of the storm overhead, but only started breathing once the group had safely made it out of the enclosed corridor. <em>Choke point. Kill zone. Bottleneck<em>. Imaginative names for the alley they traversed played inside her head, the walls far to close for comfort. One turn and they could find themselves engulfed in hidden, waiting enemies.

They made it to the street without incident.

At a jog, the survivors painfully made their way through the dreary afternoon, waterlogged streets thankfully empty. They saw no sign of any of the monsters, no sign of pursuit. Sayaka knew all too well that the torrential rain could have hidden dozens, or hundreds, of the things from them. Their vision was down to a couple dozen meters at best. She just hoped that they, too, were hidden from the undead.

"I can barely see," Hitomi commented, not a complaint so much as seeking assurance, acknowledgement that everyone was, essentially, running blind. Not just her. As they trudged through the rain, weighed down by packs and weapons, she tried to keep watch for danger, shivering in part from the cold, but mostly due to nervous tension. Glancing around, seeing almost nothing but hazy outlines of buildings nearby, the honor student would be flooded with a sudden, overwhelming panic, desperately afraid of losing track of the others and getting left behind, her head spinning to search for their illusive, rain-obscured silhouettes.

Madoka, sensing the bedraggled, green-haired girl's increasing terror, tried to reassure her old friend as they criss-crossed the final blocks to her neighborhood. Out front, beyond the pinkette's field of vision, Sayaka would occasionally stop, holding up an open hand. With a jolt of terror, Madoka and the others would halt, hoping they hadn't been too late in seeing the warning. The blunette would motion left, or right, or forward, sometimes after the group had waited for minutes.

The rain made everything difficult. Sayaka felt the icy rivulets run trails down her back and chest, the straps chafing worse than ever and her armor and bag seeming to have doubled in weight. The initial alertness after exiting the diner had faded, and after so many blocks of trudging through the deluge most of her focus was taken up by simply gathering the will to continue on.

Finally, the rain began to let up. Everyone noticed this immediately, but no one commented for fear of jinxing it. With the improved visibility, they could see much further, and the block ahead and behind looked clear of danger. Shoulders sagged in relief as the tension of their obscured journey began to melt away. Sayaka looked up at the seething grey mass of clouds that loomed low over their heads, then turned to the others, taking in the whole group with a twinge of dismay.

Seeing the state of her companions, who were faring no better than herself, Sayaka motioned the others to approach. "We need to get out of this rain," she said carefully, trying to keep her teeth from chattering. The others nodded in assent. She looked around; the buildings stood dark and ominous all around them.

"L-let's j-j-just h-hurry," Hitomi chattered through blue lips. Turning her head, the green-haired girl coughed into a fist.

Sayaka glanced at Madoka, seeing the worry she herself felt on written on the pinkette's face. "Okay, let's hustle. Only a few blocks to go." It was more like seven with the detours they'd been forced to make, but Madoka didn't bother correcting her friend.

* * *

><p>Homura kept looking behind them, the echoing of the gunfire still ringing hauntingly in her head. The others had shared a glance and moved on, the sound distant and directionless.<p>

She, however, recognized it for what it was. Automatic fire. How far away, though, was anybody's guess. With a frustrated snarl, she ran her hand over her prescription sport goggles, the beads of intermittent rain somehow even more annoying than the downpour from before.

The tenseness of the transfer student was lost on Madoka, who nearly bounced with eagerness as they made the final turn to her block, long tendrils of sodden pink hair dancing about.. "We're almost there," she whispered gleefully, feeling a welcome sense of anticipation. Hands clenched, her pace increased, the need to get home spurring her on.

Homura struggled to keep up with the excited pinkette, dashing behind her with a growing sense of unease. Purple eyes darted down the block, searching. Her mind supplied ominous details she tried to shook away as phantoms. _Was that window broken? Is that dark spot blood on the sidewalk? Is that glass smeared with the filthy hands of one of those_… She blinked, wiping her glasses with a sleeve and focusing on her new friend.

The house sat ahead of them, a modernist cubic monstrosity all right angles and heavy on the glass. Seeing the ground floor made Homura feel like groaning. With Hitomi and Nakazawa close behind, Sayaka hastily looked over their destination. Miraculously, none of it appeared damaged, or blood-smeared. The landscaping was absolutely amazing, a yard for fairy tales and princesses, and as always Sayaka felt her breath catch at the beautifully manicured garden and the luxuriant lawn. Both were worse for wear due to the harsh winter, but seemingly ready to burst forth with living vibrance once again. She'd always, _always _wanted a yard of her own, and the Kaname estate had been the next best thing.

Something cut through her reverie. Something was wrong, somehow. There was a soft, mechanical hum she barely noticed, coming from nearby. Her eyes latched on to the home, and her heart began to race. "Madoka!" she called softly, cursing and rushing after her friend with a wheezing Hitomi in tow.

Madoka had noticed it as well. _There's a light on upstairs! Mom and Dad's room! He's here! _She fumbled with her pocket, clutching the key to her home like a talisman promising safety and shelter. She heard the others behind her, but getting home, inside, seemed like the most important thing in the world. She turned the key as Homura caught up.

"Madoka-chan, wait a second, please."

Madoka turned around, hand on the doorknob. "We made it!" she confirmed passionately. "I've got to see, got to check…" she turned, opening the door.

"Dad?" Madoka called softly, the door swinging smoothly on its hinges as she entered her lifelong home. The heavy backpack fell unceremoniously to the floor at its accustomed place at the foot of the stairs. Out of habit, she flicked a switch, and the entryway chandelier lit up, the dim interior becoming bright. Caught up in the moment, feeling so certain of a reunion with her beloved family, her voice gained intensity. "DAD? TAT-"

"Madoka-chan!" Homura whispered, placing a pale hand on the pinkette's shoulder. Abashed, the smaller girl strode through the first floor, the familiar rooms now cavernous in their sudden emptiness.

"Dad! Tatsuya! It's me, I'm home!"

The wall clock read half past four, but the digital displays on the kitchen blinked on and off, 88:88.

"Shhh!" Hitomi implored. "We can hear you outside, Madoka." She drew back as the pinkette rushed out of the kitchen, pushing by her in the hallway, frowning with intensity. Homura followed, feeling helpless.

"Madoka-chan," Sayaka murmured, but the look in her best friend's eyes silenced her. As Madoka headed upstairs, the blunette reached out to grab her friend's hand with a snarl of frustration. She yanked Madoka's arm, pulling her back angrily. "Stop!" Her eyes widened as the shorter girl recoiled, almost like she'd been scared. _Like I scared her_, Sayaka thought, dismayed. _What have I become? What are we all becoming?_ "I'm so sorry, Madoka-chan, I didn't-"

The pinkette's smile was a balm for her unease, like instant forgiveness. "No, it's not you," she assured, somewhat mysteriously. Her head turned to look upstairs. "I have to _find them_," she implored.

Sayaka nodded. "I know. I hope they're here, too. But… let's go together." After a moment, with the pinkette's consenting nod, the two girls walked upstairs together, Madoka gripping the railing while Sayaka led with the tip of her bokken. She glanced down, whispering forcefully. "Keep watch down there. Make sure all the doors are locked and... stuff."

_We're not idiots_, Homura thought, recognizing the petty origins of her sudden burst of annoyance. Frowning unconsciously, she made her way carefully around the perimeter, following up behind Nakazawa and Hitomi, not entirely trusting their capabilities even though it added minutes to her task. _Better safe than sorry. _The suspense was killing her. What was going on upstairs? _Stupid Sayaka. I should be the one who gets to_-

Catching herself, she tried to let the anger melt away. _This is important too. I shouldn't be so… so obsessed with_- The scream cut through her unsettled thoughts. Spurred on by a painful twinge in her heart, she dashed madly for the stairs.

* * *

><p>"Why are we whispering?" Madoka whispered, looking perplexed. She approached the end of the hallway, squeezed together with the blunette. Her parents' door beckoned.<p>

"Oh, well. No reason, I guess." Sayaka nervously adjusted her grip on the sword, held at her side to keep it mostly out of view and out of mind. _Gotta be prepared_, she thought to herself, remembering Mami's confident words and her difficult message. _Oh, Mami-san_... With a shake of her head, the blunette cleared her throat. "Mr. Kaname?" Unable to keep from wincing at even the moderate volume, Sayaka took a deep breath, trying to slow her racing pulse.

"Dad… Dad?" Madoka opened the door, conscious of Sayaka's sweaty, nervous look of dread. _Doesn't she understand? We're finally safe! We're home! _"Dad!"

The room was well lit. Sayaka saw a lamp on the nightstand illuminating the scene, a pair of glasses laying below. Something was in the bed. A lump. Her eyes flashed down, to the expensive carpet. A trail of dark stains leading off towards the master bathroom sent a chill down her spine, and she stepped through the door, readying herself to do whatever needed to be done, heart suddenly hammering in her chest.

"Dad? _Dad_, wake up. Wake…" For a hideous moment as she reached out to touch her father's shoulder, Madoka felt a rush of overwhelming fear overtake her. Was this Dad, or... a monster? The thought was abominable. Impossible, and therefore easy to ignore. Her determination shone through, belief swelling within her heart that things were finally going to be okay. "Dad!"

Sayaka watched, nervously shifting on her feet. "Madoka, the floor…"

The pinkette glanced down, frowning. "It could be anything," she began, an increasingly worried look dawning in her eyes. "Dad!"

"Is he…?"

"I… " Madoka stopped shaking the man's shoulder. She pulled back the sheet, ignoring Sayaka's wince.

Tomohisa rolled over limply as the blanket came off, glistening with sweat and paler even than Sayaka had remembered. Never exactly hale to begin with, she could see the man's ribs, his arms like sticks. Dull brown hair clung damply to his forehead, and his expression was pained even in unconsciousness.

"No," gasped Madoka. "No," she continued, seeing the edge of something white and red, pulling the blanket back even further to expose the meticulously wrapped bandage, the large square of pristine white marred by an ominously wet circle of red-brown, taped down on the outside of his thigh. The small stain on the sheets where the wound had bled through.

"Get back, Madoka," Sayaka warned, eyes wide. The pinkette followed her gaze, latching on to a large, glistening puddle of filth that lay next to the man. At first, it didn't make sense. The small bloodstain midway down the bed was dwarfed by the dark coating that covered the pillows. Madoka stared at her father's face, glistening with a sheen of sweat and decidedly ill, but seemingly unwounded… then she noticed the thin line of drool running from the corner of the man's mouth, black and vile. His chest quivered, and he gave a weak cough, dark flecks of spittle spraying into the air.

Sayaka recoiled instinctively, and was dismayed to see her friend standing there in shock. "Madoka-chan!" She pulled the girl back, wiping away at the small dots of bloody saliva that had hit her face. "You have to be careful! Your dad, he-"

"It doesn't matter, Sayaka-chan," the smaller girl sighed tiredly. "Like anything matters, now, anyway."

The hopelessness in her friend's voice was heartbreaking. "No, don't say that, Madoka-chan! It's… Maybe it's not that bad," she began, eyeing the obviously sick man doubtfully.

"Don't lie to me," Madoka growled, surprising the blunette by pushing away from her embrace. Her left hand, oversized inside its padded glove, clenched at her side, little body quivering with emotion. It would have been comical, coming from the usually-composed pinkette, if her voice hadn't reverberated with anguish and rage. "IT _DOESN'T FUCKING MATTER!_"

"Ma… Madoka," Sayaka croaked, wounded by the harsh scream. _What do I say?_ She heard the sound of someone rushing up the stairs, and felt a distinct and baffling sense of relief as Homura burst into the room, gun drawn and eyes looking around wildly.

The smaller girl slumped, and Homura watched, suddenly paralyzed, as the pinkette's body seemed to wilt. "I… Sorry," Madoka muttered contritely. Her sniffle made the transfer student's vision blur, contemplating the unfairness of it all.

Homura lowered her gun, stepping towards the pair hesitantly. "I thought-"

"Madoka, be careful-" The man's quiet words ended as abruptly as they'd begun, catching all three girls by surprise. As one, they turned to look at the pathetic figure, feverish eyes blinking painfully below the headboard.

"Dad!" cried Madoka, rushing forward. Homura took a step towards her, but stopped as she noticed Sayaka reach out to grab the girl's shoulder. The pinkette's eyes flashed in confusion, then anger; more than anything in the world Homura was grateful she hadn't been the one to stop her. "Let go!" Silently, she thanked Sayaka in her head, seeing the pain begin to break through the expression of patience the blunette attempted to wear.

A sickening, liquid coughing wracked the man's thin body, the stringy crimson saliva beginning to pool on the bed around his chin. "S-stay… away." A thin, dark line of drool ran down the side of his face, and Sayaka's eyes were drawn to the sinister dark stain at the head of the bed. _So much blood! _"Take... care of… Tatsuya," the man wheezed, pain written clearly across his face, the words an obvious struggle. The blunette couldn't help taking a step back at the blast of rancid breath, like Tomohisa had already begun to rot inside.

_Tatsuya!_ A quick burst of purpose was replaced by a sense of helplessness as Tomohisa briefly convulsed, dark liquid spattering from a suddenly slack mouth. "Dad?! DAD!" Madoka screamed over the hideous gurgling sound, seeing her father's body go limp, the agony which had been etched across the man's features slackening into a kind of serenity. Homura watched, fascinated. To be at peace, at last... Have it all be over.

But, no, of course there was no peace. For Tomohisa, the suffering was not over. Not yet. "Madoka," the black-haired girl cautioned, "please step away from the bed." A gun would be loud, and _messy_, but bashing her father's head into pulp hardly seemed like a good method toward winning the girl's affections.

Sayaka, too, realized the danger, the unpleasant odor of sewage and death strengthening. Carefully, she hooked a corner of the sheet with her sword, bringing it up and over the man's body, covering up the sinister stains and growing stench.

"No, wait," Madoka tried wildly, looking between the two girls. "I… I know that… I just… just need…"

Sadly, Sayaka reached out a hand, gripping the smaller girl's shoulder. "We can't touch him. Or wait. Remember Kyousuke," she added meaningfully. "I'm sorry, Madoka-chan. But, he's gone."

Tear-filled eyes looked up, overflowing with emotion. "I…" Looking between the two girls, blue and black fuzzy blobs wavering in the light of the lamp, her shoulders sagged. She'd never felt so utterly defeated. Nodding, she turned to lump on the bed that had been her father. "I love you, Dad," she choked, and Homura had to turn away, blinking. The pinkette reached out an arm, hand open, towards her oldest friend. Sayaka stared in confusion. "I should be the one, Sayaka-chan, to… to-"

"Madoka," Homura implored, hating the begging tone she heard in her voice. "Please, you should go…" The silence stretched for a moment, the pinkette looking hurt.

Sayaka's mind leapt to something they'd heard, and she grasped at the idea desperately. _I can't let her bash her own father's head in._ "Akemi-san's right," she confirmed, trying to sound confident. "You two go check and see if you can find any sign of your little brother."

"Tatsuya!" Madoka remembered, bad feelings forgotten in a powerful burst of purpose. She grabbed onto one of Homura's hands and dragged her out into the hallway, straining against the urge to look at the pallid, blood-soaked form on the bed. The black-haired girl had enough sense to pull the door at least partly closed.

Holding her breath against the stink, Sayaka took two strides toward the bed, holding her wooden practice sword reversed, the slightly pointed tip down. With a quick flick, the bedsheets curled back, revealing the sightless, blood-stained eyes of what had once been her friend's father.

Quickly, she brought the tip down with all the power her shoulders could muster, the bed bouncing awkwardly. Blank-eyed, she withdrew the blade and raised in before slamming it down again, and then again.

Flipping the blankets back over the mess, she wiped the blade along the top of the bed and rushed out of the room, slamming the door shut behind her and gulping in a huge lungful of uncorrupted air, gagging from the lingering stench and the bloody, wrecked horror she'd left behind.

* * *

><p>"Tatsuya?" Madoka inquired softly, imagining her brother asleep. The busy five-year-old had become quite a handful, and with the run of the house, she knocked softly, not wanting to disturb the boy. Behind her Sayaka caught up, a purple and blue gaze meeting nervously, each owner gripping something with fervent determination.<p>

The pinkette rapped softly on the door before opening it. In the grey afternoon, the room was nearly pitch black, the shades apparently drawn.

The first thing she noticed wrong was the smell. Like rancid milk, and a faint, unpleasant odor like a backed-up toilet. "Tatsuya?" She reached into the darkness to turn on the light.

Homura gasped, a chill running down her entire body.

"No…" Madoka whispered.

The room was a mess, scattered toys and torn bedding, but it was the walls that drew each girl's attention. Dark crimson hand prints stood out against the wallpaper conspicuously, brownish-red smears and streaks like some twisted display of finger-painting. The walls seemed to drip with blood, and across the room, by a mound of debris scattered beside the bed, something moved.

A pale white shape darted forward, streaking towards the open doorway.

* * *

><p>"What the hell?" Nakazawa froze, adrenaline spiking his heartbeat as the scream erupted, cut off by a gunshot, followed by two more in quick succession. Even <em>upstairs<em>, it sounded loud. Looking around in a panic, his hand clenched around reassuringly solid steel and he raced back to the entryway. Hitomi was already there, calling up the stairs in a frightened voice.

"What's going on?" the green-haired girl cried, her voice unnaturally high. Sobbing and wailing came from the second level, adding to Nakazawa's sense of terror.

"Sayaka, what-" he shouted, seeing the blunette appear on the upstairs landing, looking shaken.

"It's…" _Alright wasn't the right word, not for this_, she thought. "None of us are hurt. There was… trouble." Glancing at the unseen sound of crying for a moment, she turned back to Nakazawa and Hitomi, standing tensely at the bottom of the stairs. "Keep a lookout, with the noise we might have attracted something. I'll take care of things up here." There was a loud thump, something heavy hitting the floor. "Oh _shit_," Sayaka gasped, rushing back out of sight.

Hitomi nodded, clutching a spiked baseball bat in both hands. Nakazawa shrugged.

* * *

><p>Homura set the pistol down carefully, hands shaking. It had happened so fast.<p>

Madoka had seen her brother, the pale, apple-cheeked first grader, rush across the room, thinking for a moment that those arms had been outstretched to hug his older sister like they'd done countless times before. But deep down, she'd known.

Eyes wide and unblinking, she stared dully at the body, pudgy undersized limbs spread awkwardly, sprawled out on the floor. Her mind flashed, seeming to latch on to all the happy memories. Tatsuya, laughing and making a mess at the dinner table, her parents chuckling good-naturedly. His first day of kindergarten, how proudly his eyes had shone, bright and eager. His cherubic face looking up, reaching out to give her a clumsily-wrapped birthday present-

Something inside her clicked, a realization that each and every thing she remembered would never, ever be possible again. Madoka felt her stomach drop sickeningly, an empty pit that seemed to be pulling her in. The world went blurry and she screamed in pain and despair and disbelief. _Why? Why is this happening?_ Her mind flashed to her father, the smiling, gentle man of her memories replaced by the wasted wreck she'd just left. She dropped to her knees, reaching out to gingerly touch the limp, fallen corpse of her brother. "No, no no nononono-"

She felt hands on her, someone trying to take her away, and she lashed out. She was sobbing too hard to speak, but wordlessly growled a warning as the hands grabbed on and pulled her back. The overwhelming sorrow was replaced by burning anger, _Leave me alone!_, and Madoka struggled more violently, connecting with a fist and an elbow.

And suddenly she was on her back, pinned down. "Madoka! Madoka!" someone was shouting, and slowly the pinkette's world came back into focus, tears trickling down her cheeks as she stared up. "Madoka-chan, please," Sayaka whispered fervently, looking frightened, even panicked.

Sayaka remained astride the pinkette, sitting on her belly and holding her shoulders down. She glanced over in concern, seeing Akemi slowly getting up from where she'd been… pushed. More like thrown; the blunette was certain she'd seen the girl's feet leave the ground after Madoka had hit her. But it was the wild, frenzied gaze of her oldest friend that worried her the most. Below her, the pinkette's small body went limp, the struggle draining out in an instant, leaving the girl gasping and sobbing.

"What happened?" asked the blunette, looking towards Homura. The transfer student's face was contorted as she stood, and was slow to answer. "Are you okay?" Sayaka asked, getting off of Madoka and sitting down next to her instead.

Homura nodded. "Just… got the wind… knocked out…" She stepped over to the pinkette, whose sobbing had built up into a horrible, wailing moan. "Madoka-chan… I'm so sorry-"

The pinkette's eyes focused on Homura, blazing as she gasped and sobbed. "Get away from me! You killed him, you killed him," she repeated, barely intelligible through the shaking rage and sorrow. All gone, her family. Her life. _Tatsuya! Dad!_

Homura reeled as if she'd been struck again, taking a few steps backward before turning to flee slowly down the hallway. Sayaka sighed, rubbing a hand across her own glistening cheeks. "Madoka-chan," she began.

"It's _true_." The anger faded as quickly as it had arrived, leaving a swelling ocean of loss in its wake. "Oh Sayaka, why is this happening? Why did it happen to my innocent baby brother?"

"I wish I knew." Sayaka took a shaky breath. Reaching behind her, she carefully shut the door to Tatsuya's room, getting the remains out of sight. The image of that slightly-chubby, always-happy face twisted and contorted, the blood, and the hideous wounds inflicted by Homura's gun-

_The gunshots!_ Sayaka felt an icy wave of dread descend, numbing the grief she felt at the loss of Madoka's little brother, and most of all her friend's pain. She glanced down the hallway; Homura had disappeared into the bathroom, and she couldn't hear anything downstairs. The noise, though… it would attract attention. They should leave. But she felt so tired, and Madoka looked like a broken doll. It would be dark soon. And, anyway, where would they go? _If I'd been the one to open the door_… but she'd been dealing with Mr. Kaname, and even if she hadn't, she didn't know if she'd have been able to do what Homura had done. The thought of a child, a tiny, delicate-boned monster...

"Madoka-chan, I'm sorry. No one should have to… have to…" Sayaka swallowed hard. Her own parents were out there. Somewhere. Some version of them, at least.

* * *

><p>The thing had flashed across the room. Intellectually, Homura had known the creature to be Tatsuya, Madoka's beloved brother, but the pale, lurching horror looked like so many of the other undead they'd encountered. Inhuman and hideous.<p>

The first bullet had caused its body to jerk back, the hasty shot ripping into a shoulder. The next had hit him squarely in the forehead, but she'd squeezed off another shot already and watched the boy's snarling expression collapse in on itself, the third leaving a wet, red ruin in place of a face.

Homura breathed gingerly, her ribs aching where Madoka's fist had hit her. _Good thing she's wearing those padded gloves_. The thought filled her mouth with bile, everything inside her rising up against what she'd seen, what she'd done. Desperately lurching to her feet, she knew she couldn't get the toilet set up in time and turned to empty her stomach into the bathtub. She stared at the white ceramic, now stained with the pinkish-brown liquid she'd expelled, wiping a hand across her forehead. _What's wrong with me?_ she wondered. _I had to._ The thought came unbidden. _Madoka… her brother was about to_… But whatever the justification, nothing erased the image of the pinkette's furious eyes and terrible weeping. _I should go downstairs, help the others._ The thought of her friend, her beloved friend, and the death-stare that awaited her once she stepped back into the hallway, kept her from moving.

Her knees were starting to ache when the door opened. Sayaka poked her head in the room. "Uh, hey."

"Hey." Homura's voice was flat, and she kept staring into the tub.

"You okay?" the blunette asked, stepping into the room and shutting the door behind her. "I know-"

"You couldn't possibly know," Homura blurted, feeling angry and unwelcoming. Wishing she'd just be left alone. Just for a minute.

"I know you saved Madoka," Sayaka continued. Looking up, the transfer student noticed the bloodshot, puffy eyes and the trails of tears down her cheeks. "I know it was awful." Her stomach flopped, seeing the boy's face in her mind, the gaping hole, the missing eye, the terrible view of the inside of his head. She steeled herself. "And I know that… that what Madoka said was…" Sayaka paused, taking a breath. "Hurtful. To you. You didn't deserve that, Akemi-san."

"She's so mad at me!" Homura wailed, feeling pitiful and wretched but most of all needing to get the pain outside of her. "I didn't want to, it happened so fast…"

The blunette nodded. "I know. I… Thank you, Akemi-san." She shook her head. "Terrible. This is all wrong. Everything's messed up." She paused, hoping that Homura would add something, but the girl's tears continued to flow for a few moments. "Can you go sit with Madoka?"

"She doesn't want me near," Homura sniffled.

"She didn't mean that, Akemi-san," Sayaka reassured. She took a step forward, crouching down to look the black-haired girl in the eye, studiously avoiding the sight of what must have been the contents of her stomach splattered across the bathtub. "She's calmed down, but… she needs someone."

"What about you? You're here best friend." Homura hated how resentfully it came out.

Sayaka was taken aback, but only for a moment. "I need to head down, help the others." _And I don't want to stay up here_. Knowing the dead made it much more personal.

"What do I say? What do I do?"

"Just… be there. Try to get her downstairs. We have to get set up." Sayaka sighed tiredly. "It will be night soon."

Homura nodded, wiping at her eyes. She stood up, swaying slightly, filled with dread and hope.

* * *

><p>"Holy…" Nakazawa stared at the sight before him, blinking in disbelief.<p>

"What's wrong?" Hitomi asked, standing at the top of the stairs. Nakazawa had insisted on going down to check out the basement, and since Sayaka had taken over watching out the windows, she had agreed to accompany him. At least partway.

"Just… come down here. Or get Sayaka," he added, sounding like that was the better idea. Hitomi frowned, careful to hold her weapon in both hands as she descended the stairs, keeping the threatening-looking nails far away from her skin.

"What is it?" She glanced around, the large furnished room rimmed with several doors, no doubt some of which led to the laundry machines and furnaces and other arcane but necessary household items she'd never bothered to learn about. Nakazawa was nowhere to be seen. "Where are you?"

"In here," he called, voice muffled. She walked slowly, keeping an eye on any areas not in her line of sight, checking out the blind spots behind furniture and peering around the corner. A short hallway led to another door, this ajar, Nakazawa leaning into the room. "Check this out."

* * *

><p>Sayaka peered into the gathering darkness. The rain seemed to have given up, but the clouds continued to loom overhead, grey-black. It was going to be a dark night.<p>

The faint hum from the backyard rattled her nerves. Hitomi had shown her the brightly-colored portable generator inside of the small outbuilding behind the house. A few five-liter cans of gasoline were stacked against the wall, and the instructions for the device lay out on the workbench below Tomohisa's well-organized tools. She glanced at them; they may as well have been English. They were English, in fact, along half the page.

"We didn't know what to do," Hitomi explained. "The noise. It's not really _that _loud," she went on, "and we didn't want the lights to suddenly go off on you…"

"Thanks," Sayaka smiled wanly, feeling exhausted. It was hard to think, everything was kind of far off and fuzzy. They shouldn't make any noise. But, it hadn't attracted anything; the expansive yard had been empty of threats. And the light… it was reassuring, to be able to see. They had to stock up, get some rest, and then get moving again. With all the windows, this house wasn't safe. "We'll keep it on, for now," she yawned. "Start grabbing whatever you think might be useful. Especially food. And thick clothes," she added.

"You want me to just 'start grabbing' the Kaname's stuff?" Hitomi looked shocked.

Sayaka frowned. "Uh, yeah. We'll spend the night, but we gotta leave at first light."

Hitomi stood up straight, looking down imperiously at the blunette. "I am not a _thief_," she stated, her face serious. Sayaka stared, seeing the girl's mouth twitch.

"Hitomi, surely you realize-"

"Kidding!" The green-haired girl burst out into laughter. "Oh Sayaka," she gasped between chuckles. "Sorry, I needed that." Seeing the bemused expression the blunette wore, she calmed down. "I'm not… just some spoiled know-it-all. I can pull my own weight, I promise. You may have forgotten-"

"I didn't," interrupted Sayaka. "Forget. How long were we friends, Hitomi? I-"

"Three and a half years," Hitomi recited promptly.

Sayaka paused. "Yes, well, I'm glad you're with us, Hitomi."

"Lucky for me that I am, otherwise…" She let the statement hang. She'd probably still be in the bathroom, if not for Mami. Or, more likely, a zombie. "I wish… I wish Tomoe-san had… that I'd…"

Sayaka looked away as the honors student trailed off, the pause becoming uncomfortable. "I wish she was with us, too." _I wish you'd been more careful! But no, that's petty. Hitomi's trying_.

Hitomi must have seen something in Sayaka's eyes, because suddenly she was looking crestfallen. "I'm going to commence with the looting," she tried to joke lightly. "Nakazawa mentioned the basement."

"Sounds good." Sayaka carefully opened the door, looking both ways and stepping out, shutting it quickly behind Hitomi. Her eyes darted around as they walked the few paces to the back door, heading back inside. Hitomi had gone with Nakazawa. Sayaka debated checking on Madoka and Homura, but decided her priority for the moment was watching out for danger while the group was split up.

Outside, the overcast-muted colors bled away, leaving grey shapes that morphed into black silhouettes.

In truth, she didn't want to go upstairs. Every now and again she'd hear another sob, and right now… it was all she could do to hold her own pain at bay. Losing Kyousuke, and Mami-san, and now utterly certain that her own parents were either dead or had somehow managed to get away, in either case leaving her behind. Possibly forever. _Probably _forever.

Sayaka rubbed her eyes, wearily shifting her feet as she looked out the window. She rested her forehead against the cool glass, soothing her agitated, throbbing mind. Too much going on, too much to worry about. It was draining.

And then Nakazawa was at her side, pulling her arm and dragging her with it towards the basement stairway. "Wuh?" she mumbled, blinking.

"Sayaka, you gotta see…" The boy stopped, pulling back a few greasy strands of lank, brown hair. "Are you alright?"

"Fine," she said, then yawned. "Just beat."

"Well, if you got the energy, you should check out what I found downstairs. Mr. Kaname must have really been some kind of extreme dungeon master-"

"Wha_-a-a-t?_" Sayaka asked, wondering what kind of freaky stuff the boy had uncovered. She'd always been a little suspicious of Junko. Rooting through her own parents' hidden things had proven to be… unsettling. The bizarre image disappeared as something caught her attention. "Wait, do you hear that?" Sayaka put a hand over Nakazawa's mouth to shush him. The tiredness melted away, leaving behind a tingling frizzle of excitement. A slight droning in the distance. The hum of the generator was no louder than a car idling in a garage, but it took a moment for her to latch on to the sound again. Swiftly, she walked over to the front entryway.

Homura appeared at the top of the stairs, bleary-eyed and flushed. "Sayaka-"

"I hear it," the blunette confirmed, opening the doorway carefully. She paused, closing the door before retrieving her sword from where she'd propped it up against the wall. _Stupid! Can't afford any mistakes, keep your shit together!_

"Hear what?" Nakazawa wondered, face looking strained.

As the door opened, the faint droning increased in volume, accompanied by a faint, whirring thrum. Sayaka stepped out, glancing left and right before looking up, searching. "Helicopter."

* * *

><p><strong>And then, they get rescued by Americans! And Junko's on the helicopter with a machine gun! Unfortunately, the pilot unexpectedly turns zombie, and they crash in the middle of the city but miraculously escape death and walk away unharmed, ready for more undead hijinks that lie around every corner.<strong>

**Or: the helicopter decides at that exact moment to run out of fuel, smashing into the house and trapping the survivors within, except Sayaka who's smashed into a fine paste. Everyone else survives the disaster, but the zombies Nakazawa found chained up in humiliating positions in the basement break loose, and everyone dies as they extract their revenge!**

**Tune in next time, or choose your own adventure and let me know about it. (I apologize for the wait on this one)**


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